From David Thompson's book, Thai Food.

The secret to this particular Phat Thai is getting the right amount of tamarind in there. I use a goopy concentrate that is quite strong, so I erred on not enough. I also used half a .14 oz bag of noodle, which requires the rest of the ingredients to almost double. Thompson's recipe is less sweet than typically served in the US, but much closer to how Phat Thai really tastes and looks. If people complain, serve some white sugar with the hot pepper flakes and ground peanuts on the side, perfectly authentic. For some odd reason, Ranch 99 didn't have bean sprouts, so I substituted green beans, which I found was a common ingredient in Thai food stalls.

The Thom Kha Gai was a little trickier. I didn't have any kaffir lime leaves but I zested half a lime with a Microplane and that brought the right aroma out. Thompson also says to soak the noodles for 2 hours. I found that boiling and draining reduces the long wait. The noodles need to be al dente because they do get fried once more. He also says to bruise the lemongrass, shallots and chilies in a mortar, which was a frankly a pain. Perhaps using a strainer for the distracting bits or a very rough whirl in the food processor might be a better solution. I couldn't find any coriander roots either, but I chopped up some of the stems, mortared that, and added it with the lemongrass "paste" step.