Monday, October 21, 2013

Homemade Tofu Pad Thai

By most people's standards, I don't think I eat out all that much.  It is so much cheaper and healthier to eat at home, and I generally enjoy cooking in the evenings.  I find it sort of relaxing after a long day (especially when a glass of wine is involved).

I do have a pretty big weakness for Thai food, however, and it is something that I don't have much experience cooking.  As a result, I find myself frequenting my favorite local Thai place (Tana Thai) on a very regular basis, both with Jay and with friends.  They have the best pad thai, and I crave it all. the. time.

Jay kept asking why I don't try cooking pad thai at home since I love it so much.  I sort of just ignored him, until I saw some rice noodles on sale a couple weeks ago at the store.  There was a recipe for restaurant-style pad thai on the back of the box that didn't look too challenging, so I decided to give it a try.  It turned out good, but, sadly, not great.

The recipe had a lot of potential, so I gave it another shot last night, this time with a few more tweaks.  The second time was the charm!  While it still wasn't quiiite as good as Tana Thai (nothing is), I definitely thought it was great.  Plus, it is probably much healthier and certainly cheaper.

Tofu Pad Thai
Time: 45 minutes (plus the time to drain the tofu)
Makes: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 tbsp. refined coconut oil or vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 green onions, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 package (8 oz.) rice noodles
1 cup fresh bean sprouts

Sauce:
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tbsp. liquid aminos or soy sauce (traditional recipes call for fish sauce)
3 tbsp. sugar (I thought this seemed like a lot, but when tried cutting it back it was just not as good)
Pinch or two of red pepper flakes

Garnish:
Cilantro, rinsed and chopped
Roasted peanuts, crushed
Green onion, chopped
Lime wedges for squeezing
Sriracha or red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy like we do!)
Directions:
1. Wrap your tofu up in a paper towel and place it between two plates.  Stick something heavy on top (I use my hardback Joy of Cooking cookbook) to help press the water out.  Leave it for about 30 minutes.
2. Once your tofu is drained, cut it up into 1-inch cubes.

3. Place tofu on greased baking sheet, drizzle with liquid aminos and Sriracha (if you want), and roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring once.

4. While tofu roasts, mix up your sauce and chop your garnish ingredients.

5. Soak rice noodles in hot water for 8 minutes or until barely tender (they will cook a bit more at the end). Drain.

5.  Heat pan over medium-high heat.  Add oil, garlic, and green onions and stir until fragrant.  Add in two eggs and scramble.

6. Reduce heat to low; add sauce, noodles, tofu, and bean sprouts.  Toss well.  Garnish as desired (I used LOTS of cilantro, peanuts, lime juice, and hot sauce).
7. Grab some chopsticks and enjoy!

I hope your week is off to a great start!  Today was an exciting day for the blog...it reached 5,000 hits! Thank you for reading!


2 comments:

  1. Yum Laura, looks delicious!!! Would be good with some sambal oleek :)
    Xoxo Vanessa

    ReplyDelete

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