It's actually pretty simple. The hardest part is procuring the ingredients, but with the ubiquity of Asian supermarkets these days, it's totally doable.
Do you want to know the secret ingredient? Tamarind juice. Who knew?
My first exposure to tamarind was in high school when some classmates (of Asian descent) were eating candied tamarind and offered me one. It looked innocuous enough, resembling dried fruit covered in sugar, so I popped one in my mouth. I was not prepared for the combination of sweet, spicy, salty, and sour that invaded my taste buds... I don't recall if I walked away and spit it out or politely chewed my way through the ordeal, but I do know that I declined any future offers. Now that I am older (and wiser) I think I would enjoy this new taste experience, but in my delicate teen years, I think it was just too much.
For anyone who shares my ignorance, tamarind is a fruit known for its sweet and sour flavor (the spiciness I tasted in the candy had been added to it). It grows in pods on trees that originate in the tropics of Africa, though today the fruit is widely popular in Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly in India, the Philippines, and Thailand. Its name even translates as "date of India." Here in America, it's used in our beloved, yet mysterious Worcestershire sauce.
To make tamarind juice, you can buy the fruit dried, soak it in hot water to extract the flavor, and strain it. Other key flavor ingredients for Pad Thai include fish sauce, soy sauce, roasted peanuts, and preserved radish.
I found this video online that demonstrates how to make Pad Thai, and I seriously fell in love with it. The colors, the authenticity, the fact that the woman is in a boat... you have to see it for yourself.
How could this not make you want to go to Thailand?
oo,
I love that video! Let's go there together.
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