Serves: 2
Time: 15 mins
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| Vegan Pad Thai |
First of all, happy new year, I hope everyone makes the most out of this year and achieves something that they've always wanted, there's no time like the present! This next dish is the essence of Thai street food and a classic dish that everyone seems to love. There's so many variations online of an 'authentic' pad Thai, that it's hard to know where to start, and then when there are the same ingredients listed the quantities vary massively, this recipe is a combination of a countless amount of recipes I've viewed and most importantly a vegan version, so has no dried shrimp or fish sauce and it was extremely tasty!
There are so many arguments on what is and isn't 'Pad Thai', but as long as you have the noodles and the tamarind, you're pretty much there - the tamarind paste was bought from tesco, along with the noodles, which were sharwoods straight to wok flat pad thai noodles, however if they had long flat
rice noodles then I would have bought these as they are slightly thinner and lighter - unfortunately not many shops are open on new years day, otherwise I would have gone to the local Asian supermarket to get some. If you are using rice noodles, there are many methods online which suggest soaking in room temperature water for around 30 minutes before cooking, this way you do not need to boil them, but rather let the sauce absorb into the noodles and cook them until al dente.
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| Pad Thai prep |
The trick to a successful Pad Thai is to have all the prep done before cooking starts, with the ingredients lined up in the order they will enter the pan and then you can cook the dish on a really high heat and be done within a few minutes, avoiding overcooking the noodles and if making for two, the best way to cook is in two batches, overloading the pan will cause the noodles to not cook evenly & stick together.
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| Vegan Pad Thai |
By placing the garnishes to the side of the dish it allows each person to customize it perfectly to their own liking.
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| Vegan Pad Thai |
When I squeezed one of the lime segments onto the noodles it released a beautiful aroma that really brought me back to my trip to Thailand in the summer - don't add too much though or it will make the dish too acidic.
You'll need:
- Chopping Board
- Board/plate (for prepped ingredients)
- Knife
- Large frying pan/wok
- Spatula
- Jar (for the sauce)
- Spoon
Ingredients:
Sauce:
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp water
Noodles & others:
- 2 servings large flat noodles
- 1 red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 block firm pressed tofu
- Oil, for frying
Garnish:
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts (unsalted)
- 1/4 cup sliced spring onions
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced red cabbage (optional)
- Large handful bean sprouts
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 lime, quartered
Method:
- Cut the tofu into 1cm cubes and fry in a dash of oil until browned, then place on the prep board.
- Meanwhile, mix the sauce up in the jar and put to one side, then dice the onion & finely chop the garlic and place these at the front of the prep board, along with the garnishes and noodles.
- Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan and put on a really high heat, once the oil is hot, add the half the chopped onion and garlic & fry for 1 minute.
- Next add half of the tofu, half of the sauce & one portion of noodles, stir the pan continuously for around 2 minutes, until the sauce has absorbed into the noodles - Pad Thai is considered a dry dish and should not be smothered in sauce. Transfer to a plate and repeat this process again with the rest of the ingredients.
- Serve each portion of noodles up with a sprinkling of spring onions, bean sprouts & red cabbage and on the side of the plate 1tsp sugar, 1 tsp red chili flakes, 1/2 lime and 1/8 cup chopped peanuts - season the dish with the garnishes as you like and enjoy! Cassidy xx
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| Vegan Pad Thai |
