Thug Kitchen Vegetable Pad –Thai with Dry-Fried Tofu

Friday night is pizza night at our house.  It is the end of week, I am tiered and would rather not have to think about getting dinner on the table so we do take out pizza, veggie pizza no green peppers on 1/2 because Randy doesn’t like them and no cheese on my 1/2 because I don’t eat cheese. This past Friday we thought we would  break out of our pizza rut and maybe do another kind of take out, how about Thai??  So, I was planning on going to our  local Thai place after work but then I started thinking about how much oil goes into a lot of Thai food and  thought I would break my Friday tradition by cooking and making my own Pad Thai.  This recipe is really easy and you can take some short cuts by buying already prepared chopped cabbage and carrots.  This is one tasty dish.

This recipe comes from Thug Kitchen.  The recipes are awesome but you have to be Ok with profanity.

Thug Kitchen Vegetable Pad –Thai with Dry-Fried Tofu

Sauce

  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari
  • 3 tablespoons of water
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

Noodles

  • 14 ounces rice noodles
  • 1 medium crown of broccoli
  • 1/3 cup sliced shallots
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup sliced green onions
  • ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro
  • 2 teaspoons neutral tasting oil, (optional, you can also water sauté)

Dry-Fried Tofu- recipe follows

Toppings

  • 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
  • 1 carrot, thinly sliced into matchsticks
  • 1 cup bean sprouts
  • Chopped peanuts
  • Lime wedges

Instructions

Mix together all the stuff for the sauce in a medium bowl.

Cook your noodles according to package directions. Rinse in cold water. Chop up the broccoli into pieces no bigger than a quarter and chop all remaining vehetables.

Now that you have everything prepped, heat the oil or the water if you are going to water sauté over medium heat in a large skillet or wok. When the pan is hot, add the shallots and stor fry until they start to char around the edges, about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and keep sautéing for another 2 minutes, add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds . Gently add the noodles and 1/3 cup of the sauce and toss to be sure everything is coated. Keep stirring and then add the tofu. Cook for another 30 seconds or so until sauce is absorbed. Keep adding sauce a little at a time until it is how you like it. Turn off the heat and fold in the green onions and cilantro.

Serve this mound of heaven right away, top with cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts and chopped peanuts. Squirt with a wedge of lime and enjoy!
 

Dry-Fried Tofu

Want crispy fried tofu without all of the oil??

  • 1 block of extra-firm tofu, pressed for at least 30 minutes.
  • Pinch of salt.

Cut the tofu vertically into planks about ¼ inch thick and then cut those planks in half lengthwise. You should end up with around 20 pieces.

Preheat a large wok or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the tofu in a single layer. You may have to do this in 2 batches. You will want the tofu to sizzle once it hits the pan, if it doesn’t you need to turn up the heat.

Sprinkle with a pinch of salt over the tofu and start gently pressing down on the tofu with your spatula. You will hear steam escaping. After 3-4 minutes, the bottoms should be golden brown. Flip over and repeat.