Vegan Pad Thai with Tofu

Typical Thai Streetfood

Vegan and healthy

Version of the Thai-Original

Usually Pad Thai is a rather sweet dish, often already reminding of fast food. To cook it a little healthier, I usually omit the sugar. The following recipe has its sweetness only from the Sri Racha sauce and is a rather fresh-lime variation of the Thai original. However, if you like, you can optionally add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar as described in the recipe.

For 4 people

Ingredients

400 g rice noodles
400 g tofu
4 garlic cloves
3 scallions
4 carrots
250 g vegetables of your choice (broccoli or sugar snaps taste good)
150 g soybean or mung bean sprouts
Peanuts

3 tbsp non dairy yogurt (e.g. soy yogurt)
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp kala namak (see infobox)
40 ml soy sauce
3 tbsp Sriracha
2 tbsp tamarind (see infobox)
1 lime
Optional: 1 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp oil (sesame, peanut, sunflower or canola oil taste good)

Where you can find the ingredients

You can find Kala Namak best organic supermarkets, such as Alnatura, or large supermarkets like Rewe and Edeka. The black salt smells slightly sulfurous and has a taste that reminds you of egg. Since Pad Thai is traditionally prepared with scrambled eggs, you can use is perfectly for this dish!

Tamarind paste (as well as the rice noodles and the Sriracha) you can get best in an Asian supermarket. The taste is slightly sour and can be replaced by more lime juice if you can't buy it.

40 min preparation time

30 min waiting time

Recipe

To drain the water from the tofu, unwrap the tofu and place it on a piece of kitchen paper. Place a paper towel on top of the tofu and weigh it down with a pot.
Finely chop the garlic and cut the carrots into fine stripes. Finely chop the white ends of the scallions and cut the green ends into pieces of about 5 cm. Wash the sprouts. Cook the rice noodles for 3-5 minutes without salt and pour off the water. The noodles should be al dente, as they will cook again a little bit in the pan.
For the sauce, mix 40 ml soy sauce, 400 ml water, 3 tbsp Sriracha and 2 tbsp tamarind paste in a glass. If you like it sweeter, you can optionally add 1-2 tbsp of sugar.
Cut 200 g of the tofu into rough cubes and fry them in a heated pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Stir from time to time so that the pieces are crispy brown on each side. After about 5 minutes, turn the heat to medium and deglaze with 1-2 tbsp of the sauce. Then remove the tofu from the pan and set aside on a plate.
Now crumble the remaining tofu and fry with 1 tablespoon of oil and turmeric for about 2 minutes in a large frying pan or wok on high heat. Then add the white ends of the scallions and the chopped garlic. Turn the heat to medium and stir in the soy yogurt and kala namak.
Add the carrots and the selected vegetables.
Turn the heat back up and add half of the pasta and half of the sauce. Mix everything together and let it sit for 2 minutes. Then add the remaining noodles and sauce, stir everything and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Now stir again and fold in the sprouts and the tofu cubes. Depending on your taste, you can add 1 more tbsp of oil.
Pad Thai is traditionally served with a piece of lime, crushed peanuts and roughly chopped scallions. If you like it spicier, you can add more of the Sriracha sauce.