9/22/2020 Vegetarian Pad Thai | America's Test Kitchen

Vegetarian Pad Thai

SERVES Serves 4
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

With its sweet-sour-salty-spicy sauce, tender rice

noodles, and bits of scrambled egg, pad thai is
Thailand's most well-known noodle dish. We
wanted a great vegetarian version that also featured
crispy tofu. To get the noodles right, we soaked rice
sticks in hot tap water for 20 minutes before stir-
frying for tender but not sticky noodles. To create
the balanced salty, sweet, sour, and spicy avor
pro le, we combined vegetarian  sh sauce, sugar,
cayenne, and vinegar. We added tamarind paste for
the fresh, bright, fruity taste that is essential to the
dish. Chopped peanuts, bean sprouts, thinly sliced
scallions, and lime wedges completed our fresh-
tasting dish.

INGREDIENTS BEFORE YOU BEGIN

*
Sauce You will need our vegetarian sh sauce
3 tablespoons substitute for this recipe. For an accurate
tamarind paste or measurement of boiling water, bring a full
kettle of water to a boil and then measure out
tamarind substitute
the desired amount. Because this dish comes
¾ cup boiling water together very quickly, make sure that all your
¼ cup sh sauce ingredients are prepped before you start

substitute cooking. If using a tamarind substitute, use

brown sugar instead of granulated sugar in the
3 tablespoons sugar sauce, and eliminate the lime wedges for
1 tablespoon serving.

vegetable oil
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9/22/2020 Vegetarian Pad Thai | America's Test Kitchen

2 tablespoons rice INSTRUCTIONS

vinegar 1 FOR THE SAUCE: Soak tamarind paste in
boiling water until softened, about 10 minutes.
¼ teaspoon cayenne
Push mixture through ne-mesh strainer into
pepper
bowl, removing seeds and bers and extracting
as much pulp as possible; discard solids. Whisk
Noodles, Tofu, and Garnish
sh sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, and cayenne into
8 ounces (1/4-inch- tamarind liquid.
wide) rice noodles

14 ounces extra- rm 2 FOR THE NOODLES, TOFU, AND GARNISH:

Cover noodles with very hot tap water in large
tofu, cut into ¾-inch
bowl and stir to separate. Let noodles soak until
cubes
softened, pliable, and limp but not fully tender,
2 tablespoons about 20 minutes; drain. Spread tofu over paper
cornstarch towel–lined baking sheet and let drain for 20
minutes.
¼ cup vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced
3 Gently pat tofu dry with paper towels, then
3 garlic clove, minced toss with cornstarch in bowl. Transfer coated
tofu to strainer and shake gently over bowl to
2 large eggs, lightly
remove excess cornstarch. Heat 3 tablespoons
beaten
oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-
6 ounces (3 cups) bean high heat until just smoking. Add tofu and cook,
sprouts turning as needed, until crisp and browned on
all sides, 8 to 10 minutes; transfer to bowl.
4 scallions, sliced thin
on bias
4 Wipe out now-empty skillet with paper
Salt towels, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and
¼ cup minced fresh return to medium heat until shimmering. Add
cilantro shallot and garlic and cook until lightly
browned, about 1½ minutes. Stir in eggs and
2 tablespoons unsalted
cook, stirring vigorously, until eggs are
dry-roasted peanuts, scrambled but still moist, about 20 seconds.
chopped

Lime wedges

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9/22/2020 Vegetarian Pad Thai | America's Test Kitchen

5 Add drained noodles and sauce, increase

heat to high, and cook, tossing gently, until
noodles are evenly coated, about 1 minute. Add
tofu, bean sprouts, and scallions to skillet and
cook, tossing gently, until tofu is heated
through and noodles are tender, about 2
minutes. Season with salt to taste and sprinkle
with cilantro and peanuts. Serve with lime
wedges.

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