Pad Thai Sauce
Sauce for Pad Thai
The make-ahead sweet-sour-salty backbone behind every good bowl of Pad Thai.
- Prep
- 2 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Serves
- 4
- Heat
- medium
Pad Thai sauce is the insurance policy against trying to measure six things while a wok is screaming at you.
Make the balance ahead, cool it, and the actual stir-fry becomes dramatically easier. Tamarind brings the sourness, fish sauce supplies salt and savory depth, sugar rounds it out, and a little chili keeps the sauce from tasting like sweet-and-sour syrup.
EAT IT LIKE A LOCAL
Ingredients
- 5 1/3 tablespoons Coconut sugar (chopped fine if in block form)
- 2 3/4 tablespoons Tamarind paste
- 2 3/4 tablespoons Fresh lime juice
- 2 3/4 tablespoons Distilled white vinegar
- 4 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
Directions
- If using coconut sugar in block form, chop it into small pieces so it melts quickly.
- Combine the sugar, tamarind paste, lime juice, vinegar, fish sauce, and sriracha in a small pan.
- Cook over low heat, stirring continuously, until it comes to a light boil and the sugar fully melts. Let cool completely.
- Store in a closed container in the refrigerator, where it keeps well for a few weeks.
- Add a few tablespoons to softened noodles when making Pad Thai, stirring in well once the noodles have started to soften in the pan.
Notes
Chop block coconut sugar into small pieces before adding it to the pan — large chunks take much longer to fully dissolve and can leave the sauce gritty.
Substitutions
Any hot sauce with a similar consistency can substitute for sriracha, adjusting the amount to taste.