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This part of an ongoing series about making your own takeout food.
When I eat Thai food, I usually go for the spicier dishes on offer and pad thai always seemed a bit tame to me. But I've noticed that if you mention Thai cuisine to people, they almost always tell you how much they like pad thai. So I thought I would give it a whirl and see what everybody loves about it.
There are many recipes out there for this dish, but I decided to go with the one in Gourmet from last December. This dish is vegetarian, but I realize that most pad thai has chicken or shrimp (or both) in it. I don't like shrimp, and I cook what I like, so that was out, and I didn't feel like chicken.
I made a lot of changes to this recipe so if you want to follow the original you can find it online, but I think mine is easier and healthier. To begin with, the recipes calls for an astonishing 1 1/2 cups of peanut or vegetable oil, which is silly. I used about 1/3 of a cup and even then I thought it was perhaps too much. The ingredients for pad thai are cooked individually, and then added all together at the end. This recipe had instructions to pour the oil in, cook the item, pour the oil out, wipe the pan, pour the oil in, and so on. I said feh, I'm cooking it one after another in reduced oil, no messing around. I know there are a lot of steps to this recipe, but nothing takes very long and it really isn't difficult at all.
There are no vegetables in this recipe, but in my house dinner isn't complete without them, so I added baby bok choy and some grated carrot for extra colour. I originally planned to cook the vegetables separately, but once I got going that seemed like extra work so I tossed them in after the onions and garlic were cooked.
For some reason, I couldn't find Thai rice noodles in any of my local markets, which is quite unusual. I ended up using Chinese noodles which you must boil, and they worked just fine. I also added soy sauce to the eggs rather than salt. If you want (although it's not vegetarian), you could add 3/4 tsp of fish sauce instead.
In the end, the dish was really good and I had one very happy husband. This may not be a traditional pad thai but it was a very creditable dish.
Vegetarian Pad Thai
Makes 4 to 6 servings
12 ounces dried flat rice noodles (1/4 inch wide; sometimes called pad Thai or banh pho)
3 tablespoons tamarind (from a pliable block)
1 cup boiling-hot water
1/2 cup light soy sauce + 3/4 tsp for eggs
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce)
1 bunch scallions
4 large shallots
1 (14- to 16-ounce) package firm tofu
1/3 cup peanut or vegetable oil
6 large eggs
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups bean sprouts (1/4 pound)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1. Soak noodles in a large bowl of warm water until softened, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain well in a colander and cover with a dampened paper towel.
2. Meanwhile, make sauce by soaking tamarind pulp in boiling-hot water in a small bowl, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Force mixture through a sieve into a bowl, discarding seeds and fibers. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, and Sriracha, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
3. Cut scallions into 2-inch pieces. Halve pale green and white parts lengthwise. Cut shallots crosswise into very thin slices.
4. Rinse tofu, then cut into 1-inch cubes and pat very dry.
5. Heat oil in wok over medium heat until hot, then fry half of shallots over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until golden-brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Spread fried shallots on paper towels. (Shallots will crisp as they cool.)
6. Fry tofu in 1 layer, gently turning occasionally, until golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer tofu to paper towels using a slotted spoon.
7. Lightly beat eggs with 3/4 teaspoon soy sauce. Add eggs to hot oil and swirl to coat side of wok, then cook, stirring gently with a spatula, until cooked through. Break into chunks with spatula and transfer to a plate.
8. Stir-fry scallions, garlic, and remaining uncooked shallots until softened, about 1 minute.
9. Add noodles and stir-fry over medium heat (use 2 spatulas if necessary) 3 minutes. Add tofu, bean sprouts, and 1 1/2 cups sauce and simmer, turning noodles over to absorb sauce evenly, until noodles are tender, about 2 minutes.
10. Stir in additional sauce if desired, then stir in eggs and transfer to a large shallow serving dish.
Sprinkle pad thai with peanuts and fried shallots and serve with, cilantro sprigs, and Sriracha.
Difficulty level: Easy
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