Crushed red pepper flakes brought the heat, while Kaufer’s dark brown concoction made from fish sauce, tamarind paste and palm sugar brought sweet and sour elements to the dish. The crunch of every sweet and salty peanut popped out from the softness of the rice noodles. He dazzles the dish with a few extra scallions up top, but it’s not as if there were any blemishes in need of concealer. He tosses and stirs his work, ensuring classic Thai flavors will seep into every bit.Īs he poured his masterpiece into a bowl, I was blown away by how quickly and effortlessly Kaufer worked. The chef then threw in a fistful of peanuts and plopped a heaping of rice noodles. Shrimps go airborne as he tosses the ingredients into his wok. He stirred in an egg, sprinkled in scallions and poured in a dark brown concoction made from fish sauce, tamarind paste and palm sugar. Kicking off the dish, Kaufer tossed chicken, tofu and shrimp into his wok. If you try to make fried rice, it’ll never taste the same because it can’t get hot enough.”

“Almost nobody has a stove or designated wok burner that’s hot enough as those in restaurants. “It’s impossible to make almost any Asian food that’s cooked in a wok taste right when you’re at the house,” Kaufer said. This powerful heat makes all the difference. A single burner in his professional kitchen cranks out more heat than every burner on the average kitchen stove ever could. While the recipe itself hasn’t changed, Kaufer’s pad thai is much better today than it was over two decades ago. The professional chef of seven years has cooked this same recipe on his own time for 25 years. onslaught of hungry customers, he heated up the stove, readied his wok and gathered all the ingredients for his classic pad thai.Īfter a quick prep of the ingredients, it took Kaufer only five minutes to make the meal, but this is not surprising.

In the midst of prepping his kitchen for a 4 p.m. In the kitchen, Chef Adam Kaufer whistled along to The Clash’s “Clampdown,” but almost any tunes - old country, ’80s new wave, swinging New Orleans jazz - can power him through his day. On a recent cold Friday afternoon, things were heating up at Grace & Grit in Southold.

Marion's kitchen pad thai