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Best Ways to Reheat Pad Thai

Best Ways to Reheat Pad Thai and have it be delicious!

Pad Thai is one of the most popular street foods in Thailand. Aside from the fact that it’s inexpensive, it tastes just as good. The best thing about Pad Thai is the versatility of the dish. You can add as many and as little ingredients that you want or like. You can choose the vegetables and also the kind of meat that you want to add, if any.

Many experienced food critics say that pad thai needs consistent heat to have the unique crunchy taste and flavor. But, what about leftovers?

If you have a lot of leftovers from the other night at a Thai restaurant, reheating them is not rocket science. You need to know the right ways to do it. I am going to share a few ways that work.

What is Pad Thai?

What is Pad Thai

Pad Thai, also known as Phad Thai, is a popular street food eaten all across Thailand. It is a stir-fry rice noodle dish with vegetables, eggs, meat, and seafood dressed with a peanut tamarind sauce for a tangy and nutty taste.

The dish has an explosion of flavors with fresh, crunchy, and soft textures with an umami taste. 

The dish is often cooked in an extremely hot wok to preserve the crunchy texture of the veggies, so the ingredients are often prepped before the actual cooking begins.

How to Reheat Pad Thai

How to Reheat Pad Thai

When it comes to reheating your leftover batch of pad thai, there are three ways to do it. You can either use an oven, microwave, or stovetop, depending on what is available in your kitchen.

Using an Oven

Even though the oven is not the desirable option for many, it is one of the easiest ways to reheat a larger batch of leftover Pad Thai. It takes quite some time to reheat in the oven, so if you are in a rush, opt for the other methods listed below. But, if you want your pad thai to taste the same as it did the previous night, this is an apt way.

Steps to follow:

  • Start by preheating the oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit and put the dish inside to let it warm up for a few minutes.
  • Next, take the leftover pad thai out of the fridge or the aluminum foil that the leftovers came in. Transfer the dish to an oven-safe container and oil it lightly to avoid burning.
  • Cover the dish with an aluminum foil for faster and even heating.
  • Place the dish inside the oven and bake it for 15-20 minutes, depending on how much pad thai you have.

Using a Stovetop

Since pad thai is cooked in a hot wok, it makes sense that you’d want to reheat the leftovers in a wok over a stovetop. It is the most conventional form of reheating and allows you to adjust the temperature and heat according to your likings.

Using a wok on a stovetop helps maintain the vegetables’ texture and prevents it from crisping up excessively. It also prevents the risks of burning because you can tackle the heat by looking at the progress.

Steps to follow:

  • Start by placing a wok on a stovetop and add some oil to the pan and let it preheat. As for the oil, you want to add 1-2 tsp depending on the amount of pad thai you wish to reheat.
  • Once the oil is hot enough, you can put the pad thai into the wok and stir it frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the wok. 
  • Keep tossing the wok ingredients consistently to ensure even reheating of the vegetables, noodles, and the meat and seafood in the dish.

Using a Microwave

For the students and the always in a hurry, the microwave is the safest and fastest method of reheating. It takes just a few minutes, and you have a perfectly heating bowl of pad thai served for lunch.

Steps to follow:

  • Start by transferring the pad thai from the plastic leftover containers to a microwave-safe container.
  • Avoid covering the lid and, instead, use an aluminum foil to ensures even and faster reheating of the pad thai. Make sure that you poke some holes in the aluminum foil to let the steam out.
  • Once everything is done, put the container inside the microwave and reheat it for 1-2 minutes, depending on the contents.
  • If you feel that the center of the dish isn’t hot enough, you can put it for 10-20 seconds more.

Can One Freeze Pad Thai?

Freeze Pad Thai

Given how tasty and nutritious pad thai is, it is not surprising that many people like to buy more and freeze them to store for longer days.

Since this Thai street food delicacy contains perishable ingredients like seafood, meat, and eggs, leaving it outside is not an option. Did you know that you can reheat shrimp?

It lasts well for three to five days inside the fridge and around six months in the freezer. 

But nothing tastes better than a plate of freshly cooked pad thai. So, try and make a batch at home.

Conclusion

Reheating pad thai is extremely easy if you follow the steps correctly. So, even if you have some leftovers from the night before, I’d suggest you reheat it and eat it the next day for lunch. Just make sure that you don’t prolong keeping the dish out on the kitchen counter and refrigerate it immediately after returning home.

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