Pad Thai

Hi, this recipe is from the BOSH! Simple Recipes, Amazing Food, All Plants Cookbook, page 42, by Ian Theasby and Henry Firth. It's the 3rd recipe I've made from this book (Shepherd's Potato and Red Ratatouille Risotto) and I hope it's giving you some inspiration for Vegan cooking: it certainly has for me!

I enjoyed making and eating this dish. Despite it being more of Hazel's Pad Thai Adaptation for us, it was still really tasty. By this I mean that I had to use non-traditional ingredients e.g. egg not rice noodles, red not white onion and no tamarind paste. But, it goes to show that you can easily substitute in similar items for those that the recipe requests and not veer too far off the original recipe flavours.

My Pad Thai was a bit hot for some members of my family, and I think that was due to the size of chilli. The red chilli I used was quite big, so I recommend if you have a large red chilli, taste your dish before deciding whether to add the seeds or not to the dish and consider whether you want to serve with hot sauce also. If you really dislike spice, give yourself more noodles as carbohydrates help to deal with spice and serve with a glass of milk (here's an interesting article on why spicy food makes our mouths burn). Lastly, make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after chopping chilli. I often get chilli under my nails when cooking and later on in the day it begins to burn. I also had an annoying experience where the chilli was under my nails, and I washed my face before bed, and while rubbing near my eyes; got chilli in them. It burned...a lot. If this does happen, I often just wait and try to rinse/wash my eyes/hands and you should be okay. But, just be careful!

Finally, if you can, I would definitely serve with peanuts and spring onions on top as they really compliment the flavours in this dish nicely.

Enjoy!

Hazel 

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 Dietary Info:

-Vegan

-Vegetarian

-Dairy-Free

-Gluten-Free

{Double check the tofu - it should be fine -  and also the tamarind paste may have some additives with gluten in.}

-Contains Nuts

-Main Meal

Serves: 4

Takes: 45mins plus 30mins tofu pressing

Ingredients:

-170g extra-firm tofu

-1tbsp cornflower

-4tbsp vegetable oil {I used olive oil.}

-200g flat dried rice noodles {I used egg noodles and yes, it isn't very traditional but it was what we already had in stock, so I thought it would be fine. Obviously if vegan, don't use egg noodles.}

-1/2 onion {I used 1/2 a red onion because we had 1/2 leftover from a coleslaw. Either colour of onion works, it just depends on preference or availability.}

-2 garlic cloves

-1 fresh chilli

-1 carrot

-splash of water

-100g beansprouts {We had to use a stir-fry mix, so I got a mixture of cabbage and beansprouts.}

-3 limes {Only really need 2.}

-4tbsp soy sauce 

-2 spring onions

-8tbsp unsalted peanuts

-1tbsp chilli flakes, to serve

-sweet chilli sauce, to serve (optional)

-sriracha sauce, to serve (optional)

for the dressing:

-1tbsp palm sugar (or any sugar)

-2tbsp tamarind paste {I've had trouble sourcing this before, so didn't get hold of any. I know this is the ingredient that gives the dish its traditional Pad Thai flavour, but it still tasted great without, just not as 'Pad-Thai-like'.}

-1tbsp chilli sauce {e.g. sriracha or chipotle.}

Method:

1: Press the tofu using a tofu press or place it between 2 clean tea towels, lay it on a plate and put a weight on top. Leave for at least half an hour to drain any liquid and firm up before you start cooking. {Double check your tofu packaging, because when I went to press mine, the packet said it was already pre-pressed. I used ToFoo.}

2: In a bowl mix together the ingredients for the dressing. {Whisk with a fork, until smooth.}

3: Take half the tofu and cut it into 1cm cubes (save the other half for another time) {I am either going to make my sag paneer and pea frittata with tofu in place of paneer or my soy tofu noodles with the leftovers. Both are super easy and delicious lunchtime dishes that can be prepared at the beginning of the week and keep well in the fridge.} . Sift over the cornflour and turn the tofu to coat all over. {You may need to use your hands to get even coverage; just try not to break up/crumble the tofu.}

4: Put the wok on a high heat and pour in 2tbsp oil. Add the tofu and immediately reduce the heat to medium. Stir gently, without breaking up the tofu, until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate.

5: Boil a kettle. Put the noodles in a bowl, cover them with the hot water and leave for about 3mins, until they are flexible but not cooked fully (check packet instructions to make sure you don't fully cook them). Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.

6: Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Rip the stem from the chilli and chop, removing the seeds if you prefer a milder flavour. Trim the carrot and chop into matchsticks {Peel also if you wish.}.

7: Put the wok back on a high heat and add the remaining 2tbsp of oil. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook, stirring regularly, for 1-2mins. Add the carrot and cook for another 1-2mins. Add the noodles, dressing and a splash of water. Fry for a few minutes until the vegetables are tender.

8: Return the tofu to the wok with the beansprouts. Cut 1 lime in half and squeeze in the juice {Of the whole lime, not just half.}, catching any pips in your other hand. Add the soy sauce. Stir fry until the vegetables are slightly soft but still crunchy. Remove from the heat. Taste and add soy or chilli sauce if needed.

9: Slice the green part of the spring onions into long thin strips. Break up the peanuts. Cut the remaining limes into wedges.

10: Divide the pad Thai between bowls with piles of sliced onion, peanuts, lime wedges and chilli flakes. Serve with the sweet chilli sauce or sriracha on the side, if using.

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/3oEwUP6