
Southeast Asian · 32 min · Medium · 2 servings
Vegan Pad Thai
Rice noodles tossed in a sweet-sour-salty tamarind sauce with crisp tofu, beansprouts and a heap of crushed peanuts. Everything happens in about four minutes, so get organized first.
~900 cal per serving — Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.
Method
- 1
Soak the noodles
⏱ 8 minCover the rice noodles with just-boiled water and soak until pliable but still firm in the center — they finish cooking in the pan. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- 2
Mix the sauce
Stir the tamarind paste, soy sauce, maple syrup and chili flakes together with a splash of water. Taste it: it should be aggressively sour, salty and sweet all at once, because the noodles will dilute it.
- 3
Fry the tofu
⏱ 7 minHeat the oil for the tofu in a wok or large frying pan over high heat and fry the tofu until golden on all sides. Push it to one side.
- 4
Stir-fry
⏱ 3 minAdd the oil for the aromatics and the garlic to the empty side of the pan and stir for 20 seconds, then tip in the drained noodles and the sauce. Toss constantly with tongs until the noodles have soaked up the sauce and are slippery and tender.
- 5
Finish
⏱ 1 minThrow in the beansprouts, scallions and half the peanuts and toss for another 30 seconds — the beansprouts should stay crunchy. Serve with the remaining peanuts, the cilantro and a lime wedge to squeeze over.
Notes
Contains peanuts. Under-soak the noodles rather than over-soak them; anything close to fully cooked before it hits the pan will break up. Tamarind pastes vary in strength — taste and adjust before it goes near the noodles.