Pad Thai

If you love Thai food but have never tried making it at home, you’ll love how easy and delicious this vegetable pad thai is! It’s a mix of sweet, salty, sour, and spicy flavors, chewy and crunchy textures, and vibrant colors. This recipe is vegan (dairy-free, egg-free), grain-free (gluten-free), and refined sugar-free.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Servings:

Calories: 313kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

"Fish" Sauce

5 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 (0.35 oz) piece dried seaweed **
1 tsp. miso paste ***
2 cloves garlic
10 black peppercorns
1/3 cup tamari
2 cups water

Pad Thai Sauce

6 Tbsp. "fish" sauce
3 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

Tofu

1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1/2 block (12 oz.) extra firm tofu
1/4 tsp. turmeric
pinch sea salt or black salt *

Vegetables

4 cups white cabbage , shredded
1 red bell pepper , sliced
3-4 carrots , peeled into ribbons
1 cup bean sprouts
1 bunch green onions , sliced

Toppings (for serving)

crushed peanuts
lime wedges

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the "fish" sauce. Add the shiitake mushrooms, miso paste, garlic, black peppercorns, tamari, and water into a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is reduced, about 30 minutes.
Prepare the pad thai sauce. Transfer 6 Tbsp./90 ml of the "fish" sauce into a small jar. Add the lime juice, maple syrup, and crushed red pepper flakes, and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
Sauté the tofu. Crumble the tofu into a medium mixing bowl. Add the turmeric, season with salt, and stir until well combined. Heat the peanut oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and sauté until slightly browned, 5-7 minutes.
Sauté the vegetables. Add the cabbage, red pepper, and half of the pad Thai sauce into the pan with the tofu, and sauté until the cabbage begins to soften, 2-3 minutes. Next, add the carrot ribbons and sauté until the carrots begin to soften, 2-3 minutes. Finally, add the bean sprouts, green onions (reserve one green onion for garnish), and the other half of the pad Thai sauce and sauté until warmed through, for about 2 minutes.
Season. Taste and adjust the flavor as needed, adding more tamari for saltiness, lime juice for acidity, maple syrup for sweetness, and red pepper flakes for heat.
Serve. Garnish the pad thai with crushed peanuts and sliced green onions. Serve hot with a wedge of lime on the side of the plate.
Store. Leftover pad thai keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Reheat. Heat a little bit of peanut oil in a large sauté pan. Fry the pad thai until hot, for 2-3 minutes.

Notes

*Black salt (also called kala namak) is a kiln-fired rock salt with a sulfurous, pungent smell reminiscent of eggs.

**I used wakame, which has a subtly sweet but very distinctive flavor. You can substitute the wakame for a different type of dried seaweed, such as arame or hijiki.

***Miso paste is generally made by fermenting soybeans and rice. There are many varieties with different colors and flavors. You can omit the miso in this recipe or substitute it for ½ tsp./2.5 ml tamari.

****Nutrition information is approximate and may contain errors. Please, feel free to make your own calculations.

Nutrition