Pad Thai failure

Thanks guys, Round 2 will have to be after Xmas, but I will repost the results. I feel much more confident after taking in your suggestions.

Okay, this is a super nerdy 5-part post on making pad Thai, but it's authentic and really detailed. Some of the ingredients might be hard to track down depending on where you live, but I left some of them out and the final dish didn't suffer perceptably (we did manage to find the banana bud, but it's something of an acquired taste--very astringent). In any case, if you're really nerdy or just want to get lost in a little cooking project for an afternoon, read this series of posts. There are 5 parts so be sure to read them all. http://shesimmers.com/2011/05/pad-thai-recipe-part-one-pan-and.html

Tamarind is essential! Go to a southeast Asian or Hispanic grocery store and look for tamarind paste. Just hack off a block and add hot water, mixing with your hands to a ketchup-like consistency (and removing any seeds) before adding remaining ingredients to your sauce. Any extra can be kept refrigerated.

You are missing the Tamarind paste. Try this one http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/15food.html?_r=0

The Pad Thai recipe in the link which Trena supplied is a simple and delicious one, which has become a favorite in our house. Good luck!

Hi Dave,
Pad Thai should be sweet, hot, salty and sour….in that order. The sweet being the palm sugar (or brown sugar), the hot coming from the chile sauce, the salty from the fish sauce and the sour from the tamarind sauce. I recently posted my recipe on my blog at www.saucedujour.blogspot.com. It’s under the “Pasta” tab. To read about the prep, etc click on the November post titled, “Fishheads, Asian Farts and Pad Thai.” You’ll get the full scoop there. I think you will like it since you mentioned peanut sauce, because there is a bit of peanut butter in my recipe. Hope this helps, let me know.