“I am a sucker for a pad Thai. I know it’s predictable, but I can’t seem to bypass it on a menu. This version brings together all the things I love about it; crispy tofu, lots of greens, a tamarind heavy-sauce, roasted peanuts, and crispy onion, as in my mind, a pad Thai is pointless without them.” – Anna Jones
Main INGREDIENTS
- Vegetables
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
FOR THE TOFU AND BROCCOLI
- 250g flat wide rice noodles
- 250g block of firm tofu
- 250g purple-sprouting broccoli and a neutral oil for frying
- 2 tablespoons soy or tamari sauce
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
- 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 organic large eggs (optional)
- 100g beansprouts
FOR THE SAUCE
- 4 tablespoons tamarind paste
- 1 tablespoon vegetarian fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
TO SERVE
- 100g roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 1 small handful of Thai basil leaves, shredded
- 1 small handful of mint leaves, shredded
- 2 unwaxed limes
- a handful of crispy shallots
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Method
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1Soak the rice noodles in cold water for at least 10 minutes until softened.
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2Lay the tofu between 2 sheets of kitchen paper on a plate or clean surface. Place a small plate over the top and a jar or weight on the plate to press down. Leave the tofu like this to dry out for half an hour.
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3Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl with 4 tablespoons of cold water. Set aside.
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4Cut the broccoli into florets and thinly slice the stalks, keeping them separate.
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5Slice the tofu into 1cm-thick pieces about half the length of your little finger. In a large non-stick frying pan or wok, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over a medium-high heat, then fry the pieces of tofu for 6–8 minutes, turning them every minute, until golden all over.
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6Add the soy sauce and stir for another 30 seconds (be careful here, as the sauce may spit). Lift the tofu out of the pan with a slotted spoon onto a plate. Keep warm in a low heat oven.
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7When cool enough, wipe the pan out with kitchen paper and add a couple more tablespoons of oil. Heat over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
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8Then add the broccoli stalks, drained noodles and 6 tablespoons of water and cook for 3–4 minutes until the broccoli stems are tender and the noodles are beginning to cook and crisp up.
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9Add the broccoli florets, sauce, and most of the spring onions along with 2 more tablespoons of water. Stir and cook for another 3–4 minutes until the noodles are soft enough to eat.
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10If you are using eggs, push the noodles to the side of the wok and add a little more oil, then the eggs. Pierce the yolks and when they start to set on the bottom, scramble, then mix into the noodles.
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11Take the pan off the heat and fold through the beansprouts, then spoon the noodles between four warm Le Creuset pasta bowls.
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12Sprinkle over the peanuts and the rest of the spring onions. Scatter over the chillies, herbs, crispy onions and shallots.
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13Squeeze over the juice of a lime, and serve immediately, with the rest of the lime for squeezing over.
Recipe by Anna Jones
