This vegan Pad Thai recipe is much healthier than the takeaway version, yet still tasty enough to satisfy the food craving!
The original recipe was from Lazy Cat Kitchen, which I slightly modified to add crispy baked tofu and I adjusted the sauce recipe to make it extra saucy! I have also included a note at the end to give a vegetarian option instead, with the addition of egg.
PREP: 15 MINUTES | COOK: 20 MINUTES | SERVES: 2
Ingredients:
PAD THAI
- 200g Flavoured tofu, cut into 1cm pieces
- 200 g wide rice noodles
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 hot red chilli, finely sliced
- 2 carrots, shaved into ribbons
- a large handful of green beans, cut diagonally
- ½ small broccoli, cut into small florets
- 1 red capsicum, finely sliced
- ¼ cup roasted & unsalted peanuts, roughly crushed in a pestle & mortar
- ½ cup bean sprouts / mung bean sprouts
- fresh coriander, to garnish
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
SAUCE
- 7 tbsp tamarind sauce
- 1.5 tbsp tamari / soy sauce
- 3 tbsp vegan fish sauce (or more tamari / soy sauce)
- 3-4 tbsp maple syrup, adjust to personal taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 200°c. Line small baking tray with liner.
- Cut tofu and arrange on baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes until slightly browning and crisping.
- Prepare rice noodles according to the instructions on the packet. After you immerse them in soaking water, lift the lid and give the noodles a good stir to prevent them from clumping together and sticking to the bottom of the pot. Give them another good stir half way through the soaking time.
- Once the time is up, drain the noodles and set aside.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Heat up a wok or a large frying pan. Pour 1 tbsp of oil and heat it up until almost smoking. Add spring onions, garlic and chilli.
- Stir-fry (stirring constantly) until spring onions soften and garlic becomes fragrant. Transfer to a separate plate, leaving as much oil in the wok as you can.
- Heat up another tablespoon of oil in the same wok – no need to wash it. Start adding prepared veggies in the following order (leaving a minute or two between each addition): broccoli, beans, red capsicum and carrot ribbons. Stir-fry until cooked yet still slightly crunchy.
- Transfer all vegetables to a big plate and pour half the sauce to the bottom of the wok. Add in noodles – they may have clumped together a little, but the sauce and heat of the work will separate them again.
- Add spring onions, chilli, garlic, baked tofu and stir-fried veg back to the wok. Add remaining sauce and mix everything well and let it warm up, stirring the whole time, for a minute or two.
- Divide between two plates, sprinkle with sprouts, crushed peanuts and coriander over top. Squeeze the lime wedges over top when serving (don’t skip this step!)
- VEGETARIAN NOTE: To make this recipe vegetarian, add 1 beaten egg to the mixture just before step 10, and stir through just before adding the vegetables back in.