Pad Thai
This is one of my favourite dishes when going out, as it is easily ordered meat- free and without eggs, to make it plant-based. Due to the fish sauce it will never be 100% plant-based, so we have a typical flexitarian dish here.
It usually is gluten-free, as no soya sauce is added. The key is a good tamarind paste and the right balance between sweet, sour and spicy. Here I used lemon, cayenne and stevia.
Try and buy a tamarind puree to avoid having to pick the seeds out of a sticky blob of paste...
Fresh Ingredients
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red capsicum​
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mushrooms: here I used a brown variety that is similar to the white button mushroom and enoki mushrooms
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red cabbage
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spinach
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cucumber
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wash and clean all veggies
Other Ingredients
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We need pad thai rice noodles, which is usually a noodle that is flat not round. But you can try it with all sorts of types of rice noodles. I found some brown rice noodles recently and have used black rice and white rice noodles in the past
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for the sauce we need tamarind puree, stevia drops or green stevia powder, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and fish sauce. If you find a vegan fish sauce use that or make your own. I made my own once, using seaweed sheets etc but it did not last very long in the fridge...(google vegan fish sauce recipe)
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to serve we need: finely chopped peanuts
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lemon or lime slices
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fresh coriander
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Cook rice Noodles
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following the package instructions is a good idea, but I usually just throw them into boiling water, seperate them well, check often and strain them as soon as they have the bite I enjoy
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then immediately pour them into a pot of cold water, loosen them up with a large spoon and your hands, once they are cold enough
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some brands of rice noodles can get very sticky if you are not using the cold water method. Once they are loose, strain them again. I do cut them at this stage with kitchen scissors if they are way too long...some brands seam to be one metre long :)
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keep them aside for later
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you can quickly refresh them by putting them into boiling water for a few seconds
Prepare the Sauce
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this recipe serves 2 and has 5 ingredients
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the sauce is very potent and when you serve it start with 1 TB and add a second, if you like more flavour:
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(I like it spicy and use 2 TB)
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1.5 - 2 TB lemon or lime juice
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7 drops stevia or 1/4 tea green stevia powder (adjust sweetness to your liking)
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1/2 tea cayenne pepper
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2 TB Ayam tamarind paste, which is my favourite brand
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2 TB vegan fish sauce or normal fish sauce if you are flexitarian -
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simply add all these ingredients to a lidded jar and shake until combined
Vegetable process
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finely grate the red cabbage
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chop the red pepper into small squares
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slice the mushrooms
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wash the enoki mushrooms and keep them long, just chop the dirty ends off
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chop the cucumber in small squares
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rince and chop the coriander
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wash the baby spinach
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Assembly
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fry the red cabbage in a little coconut oil until slighlty wilted, keep aside
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fry the sliced mushrooms until soft, keep aside
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add the re-freshed noodles to the pan and add capsicum, cabbage, all mushrooms and spinach.
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add the sauce, starting with 1-2 TB and add more if desired.
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warm the ingredients gently in the pan and distribute the sauce evenly
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serve in bowls with a good sprinkle of chopped peanuts, fresh coriander and cucumber squares.
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adjust the seasoning with a squeeze of lemon and extra cayenne if required.