- Wow, I'm here, I've made it.
It's such a big deal to me. - I've so been looking forward
to doing this with you. - Same.
- Now before I tell you why,
I wanna ask about your family
and what an amazing influence that they have been
in bringing the Thai movement west,
if you will. - Big time, big time.
Yeah, so people watched me at Food Network,
but they didn't know 50 years ago,
my family moved to the States.
And we started the first Thai restaurants,
markets, grocery in the whole history of this country.
So we started Thai food here.
- [Drew] Can you believe that?
- Yeah, it's wild,
but it's awesome to be cooking Pad Thai
with you, Drew, I can't believe it.
- Well, I'm so excited because.
- You ready?
- Not only is this one of my favorite foods,
but I've attempted this on my own.
And so I'm so excited to learn from a master.
- You're in good hands.
So just enough oil to coat the bottom, how's that sound?
Just enough to coat the bottom.
You don't need any more than that.
So right after the oil,
we're always gonna do aromatics
and things that won't burn, but bring a lot of aroma.
This is a radish, a sweetened radish,
you know, like the daikon radish.
- Really? - Yeah.
It's pickled sweet, it adds a nice aroma.
We're gonna throw in some, you smell that?
- I do, garlic? - Mmm.
Let's do some garlic.
And then, these are dried shrimp.
- [Drew] Big, dried shrimp now.
- I thought you didn't cook a lot.
I think I'm being totally hustled here by the way.
I think you're a ringer, I'm getting that feeling.
- I've been a studier.
It's like I'm not ready to be a teacher,
I'm still a student,
but I really apply myself to learning.
- Yeah, but you know what?
Your passion for cooking comes through though.
I know how much you love the cooking.
I'm gonna go proteins now,
are you cool with that? - I am certainly cool.
- You mind if we do it together?
- Come on, throw it in! - Oh, okay, cool.
Excellent, so we're gonna go shrimp.
And then, again, if you're not doing shrimp,
you can just do the tofu.
You can do any protein you want to.
- Yep. - And then,
we're gonna watch here.
Well, actually, you do this, we're gonna do something
called hot side, cold side.
Watch this, we're gonna push everything against one side.
And you're just gonna shake the pan, center up.
The heat, just like you got there.
Beautiful, we'll take an egg,
and you can either crack it
or lay it right into the hot side.
So most people are like, "Oh, I gotta take the food out,
and then I gotta cook the egg,
and then I gotta put the food back in."
It's such a waste of time, like this is how grandma did it.
So you see how we're cooking up everything.
I don't want this egg to fully set.
I want it nice and still kind of moist.
And now we'll bring it all together.
Boom, that's it, look at that.
- [Drew] Oh, yeah, I see that.
- Look at that, super simple!
You're killing it! - Oh, thank you!
- [Jet] You're totally killing it.
- Oh, that means so much to me.
So I was in Sun Valley, Idaho
and my whole family was skiing.
- Right. - And I don't like to ski,
because I've seen people in full body casts at the airport
and I know I'm gonna end up being one of them.
So I am like a lodge bunny.
So when I have time off,
I'm really passionate about cooking.
When I'm like working, it's takeout city.
I don't cook a thing. - Totally, totally.
- But when I have some time, cooking is my passion.
So I decided I was gonna challenge myself to learn Pad Thai.
- So you've set up the whole kitchen over there.
I'll tell you what?
Bring me over, we'll do a full Pad Thai class
while all the families are skiing.
How's that sound?
- Well, it's truly one of my favorite foods on planet Earth.
So I was like I wanna learn how it works.
- For sure, so another big tip here, right?
These are called rice stick noodles.
And most people get wrong noodles,
and then they apply it incorrectly.
You take the dry rice stick noodles.
You soak 'em in warm water
until they get nice and pliable.
And now they hit the pan and they saute,
and they start steaming.
So what we're gonna find is,
as we kind of keep the noodles at the bottom,
they're gonna start getting nice and soft.
Go, Drew, go!
You got this, you got this, come on!
(audience cheering) Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Yeah, there you go, you're nailing it!
All right, next tip for perfect Pad Thai,
Thai food is five flavors,
hot, sour, salty, sweet, savory.
- Is that umami also?
- And the savory girl, yeah, yeah!
(audience cheering)
Yeah!
Oh, now bowing down, y'all, bow down!
- I'm so excited to get that right!
I was like, "Then that's umami, right?"
- Yeah, no, you nailed it.
So the umami is in fish sauce.
Anything that's fermented gives you umami.
So the radish gives you umami.
The fish sauce gives you umami.
So add to that fish sauce a lime juice,
a little bit of a vinegar.
And we're gonna stir, look at you,
I didn't even to tell you to stir,
'cause we're using a little sugar in there
and we're gonna get the sauce right in.
And then, so Pad Thai, so who likes spicy?
Anyone? Are we spicy people?
- I do, I do. - Okay.
So in Thailand we would add sriracha or chili sauce.
But when my family started Thai food here 50 years ago,
people were like, "Ooh, a little too spicy."
So we wanted to bring the color of heat without the spice,
so we're doing paprika.
So just a little paprika.
But for Drew and those like Drew who like heat,
a little bit of chili paste, chili powder, sriracha.
That's the way to go right there.
- Yeah, 'cause you want that color.
- Yes! - You're so right.
(upbeat music)