We Asked A Thai Chef What Americans Get Wrong About Pad Thai

Reddit will never buy Costco Pad Thai again, but the superstore's employees aren't the only Americans who get this stir-fry dish wrong. According to Chef Aom Srisuk, chef and owner of Good Catch Thai Urban Bistro and Pomelo in New Orleans, many Americans mess up by substituting the wrong ingredients and leaving out crucial ones.

Though gastrodiplomacy brought Thai food to the world stage, Srisuk is quite confused when she sees Americans use ketchup in Pad Thai. Srisuk allows for differences in approach to the recipe, particularly for peanuts. But while omitting peanuts or offering them on the side may accommodate those with allergies, ketchup is the strangest ingredient change she's come across. Whether as a substitute for tamarind paste, to get the color right, or to make it appeal more to American palates, she had only one thing to say about it: "Whatever the reason, please don't do this!"

Still, she admits not all substitutions or additions are bad. "There really [isn't] a large variety of vegetables in Pad Thai traditionally — just fresh bean sprouts and chives, a touch of finely chopped red onion, and pickled radish," she said. Garlic chives are traditional, but green onion will do in a pinch.

At Good Catch, Srisuk offers a vegan option with fresh seasonal vegetables, but she insisted that the standard Pad Thai veggies are a must to get the recipe right, especially when they're readily available in the local market. Whatever substitutions or additions you make, Srisuk insisted that the traditional technique of Pad Thai is vital to getting the best end product.

In her own restaurant, Aom Srisuk has no problem adding a few non-traditional ingredients to her Pad Thai. However, there are still a handful of key ingredients and steps that any Pad Thai should follow if you want to make this iconic dish.

Srisuk recommended making a sauce of tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce to start. You probably already have a fish sauce substitute in your kitchen, soy sauce and rice vinegar, but tamarind in particular is key to nailing the dish. In addition to Srisuk's already recommended ingredients, she said to use rice noodles, egg, Thai chili flakes, diced tofu, and a quality high-heat oil. Extra proteins are optional, but Srisuk noted shrimp is the most popular choice.

"After the oil heats, add in the red onions, sweet radish, and tofu, and then after they cook a bit, crack in an egg," Srisuk explained. If you're adding a protein, cook it about 80% done before moving on to the next step. "To this, add in your noodles, followed immediately by the sauce. Let the sauce slowly cook and caramelize the noodles before adding in the crushed peanuts and chili flakes." Srisuk said that bean sprouts and chives only need a couple stirs in the pan and, once the finished dish is on a plate, add a squeeze of fresh lime to finish it off before diving in.