You would be surprised to know it actually works!

Who doesn’t love Pad Thai? This delicious dish of rice noodles, bean sprouts, a meat of your choice, and a fish-based sauce is one of Thailand’s most internationally beloved dishes, and for good reason. It’s so flavorful and satisfying, you’ll always want to come back for more!

Our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori also loves Pad Thai. So much so that he came up with a recipe for noodle-less Pad Thai…which uses oatmeal instead of noodles. Why? Because he also loves oatmeal…and trying wheat-free, gluten-free alternatives. Was he insane to try to use it in Pad Thai? Maybe. But is he also a mad genius? Definitely.

Here’s Go’s recipe for Pad Thai Oatmeal:

Ingredients (for one serving)

For the Pad Thai
5 tbsp oatmeal (Go recommends the bigger grains of old-fashioned style oats)
Shrimp, to taste (Go used defrosted frozen shrimp)
Koebi (tiny shrimp), to taste
1/2 pack of bean sprouts
Garlic chives, to taste
1 egg, scrambled
Cooking oil, as needed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Coarsely ground red chili pepper, to taste
A suitable amount of peanuts (crushed)

For the Sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Place the peanuts in a plastic bag and use a wooden spoon or spatula to crush them into smaller pieces.

2. Heat some oil in the pan, then add the scrambled egg and cook until it becomes a fluffy omelet.

3. Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper and fry in the pan.

4. Once the shrimp is cooked, add the oatmeal, tiny shrimp and sauce ingredients, and fry.

5. Add the bean sprouts, garlic chives, and cooked egg, then mix and fry.

6. Remove everything to a plate before the bean sprouts get soggy, then top with the crushed peanuts and red pepper.

And it’s finished! After tasting it, Go remarked that it was astoundingly Pad Thai-like. He said it was really delicious! He was impressed that you could get the entire flavor of Pad Thai without any noodles. Since Go loves oatmeal, and this was a pretty easy recipe, he realized this is something he could add to his weekly menu.

Who knew oatmeal could be such a great wheat-free alternative to noodles? Well, Go certainly did, and if you’re looking for more ways to use oatmeal, you can also try his recipes for oatmeal okonomiyaki and curry oatmeal. Maybe you, too, will begin to share Go’s love for all things oatmeal!

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[ Read in Japanese ]