Stir-fried noodles are a type of Chinese food, yet Pad Thai is, in fact, a Thai-style noodle dish because of its additional ingredient – chillies. Moreover, Pad Thai is a dish where you can savour 5 different flavours at once – salty, sweet, bitter, sour and spicy. Nothing says Thailand like a great Pad Thai!
300 g (101⁄2 oz) firm tofu, cut into cubes
60 ml (2 fl oz/1⁄4 cup) light soy sauce
1 tablespoon kecap manis
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Rapadura sugar
200 g (7 oz) dried flat rice noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (such as canola)
1 brown onion, cut into thin wedges
1 long red chilli, deseeded, cut into thin strips
1 red capsicum (pepper), halved, deseeded, thinly sliced
100 g (31⁄2 oz/11⁄4 cups) bean sprouts, trimmed
1⁄4 cup chopped garlic chives
2 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander
40 g (11⁄2 oz/1⁄4 cup) crushed unsalted peanuts, to serve
4 lime wedges, to serve
1. Place the tofu in a shallow, non-metallic dish. Combine 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce, the kecap manis, garlic and the ginger. Pour over the tofu, cover and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Place the remaining soy sauce, lime juice and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl, add enough boiling water to cover, and stand for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. Heat half the oil in a wok over high heat. With a slotted spoon add the tofu in batches and cook for 2–3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from wok and set aside.
5. Add remaining oil to wok with onion and chilli and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the capsicum and bean sprouts and stir-fry for 1 minute more.
6. Add the reserved noodles, lime juice mixture, garlic chives and coriander to the wok and toss gently over high heat for 2 minutes, or until noodles are coated in the sauce and heated through. Return the tofu to the wok and cook for 1 minute more.
7. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the peanuts and accompanied by lime wedges.
TO MAKE IT A HEALTHIER OPTION
Add extra vegetables (especially bok choy, spinach, broccolini and fresh herbs) to ensure the vegetable to noodle ratio is in favour of the vegetables. And add extra tofu (or another lean protein option) so you don’t need as big a serving to feel satisfied.