Simple and delicious vegan Pad Thai

This simply delicious meal bursts with flavors and carries peanut creaminess

I never had a regular Pad Thai; just a vegan version. And this is exactly what I tried – and managed – to prepare sucessfully.

Vegan Pad Thai recipes you can find on the internet mostly contain some ingredients which are hard or impossible to find in my country. So I decided to go for a simpler version, which lacks no flavor or richness.

To add some color, I chose to enrich my vegan Pad Thai with broccoli. I only steam-cook it; it is by far the best way to keep it’s structure, color and taste. It is the healthiest way, too.

Most recipes for vegan Pad Thai sauce contain sugar; its role is to neutralize the sourness of vinegar and Tamarind. I choose to pass it and the taste was equally great 🙂

Speaking of Tamarind – I have some left from one of my trips to Asia. If you don’t have it, here are some substitute proposals (such as white wine, rice vinegar etc).

Let me know how this great dish turned out for you. In the mean time, inspire yourself with some of other Asia-inspired delights from my blog.

Simple and delicious vegan Pad Thai

Course: Main delightsCuisine: ThaiDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

33

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tofu block (around 180 g)

• 400 g rice noodles

• 3-4 scallions

• 1 large tomato

• Half of 1 broccoli head

• Handful of cilantro

• 150 g roasted unsalted peanuts

• Olive oil for cooking

• Salt

• For the paste

• 1 tsp Tamarind paste

• 2-3 tsp vinegar

• 3 tsp peanut butter

• Red pepper or chili flakes

• 1-2 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice

Directions

• Cut the tofu into cubes and cover them in paper towels to remove the excess water. Set aside.
• Prepare the sauce: Mix Tamarind paste with a few spoons of warm water. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, and peanut butter. Keep stirring until you get a creamy consistency. Add the chili flakes and grate the garlic. Stir well and set aside.
• Prepare the veggies: chop the tomatoes and scallions. Cut the broccoli into florets.
• The broccoli is cooked separately: just steam-cook it until tender and set aside.
• Prepare the peanuts by quickly grinding them in a chopper or blender.
• Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add the tomato and scallions and cook them for a few minutes, until they combine well. Add the tofu and stir.
• Now add the sauce and increase the heat. Stir well for all ingredients to combine. Add the peanuts and keep stirring. After about 5 mins or so, add the broccoli, cilantro, salt, and make sure everything is well mixed.
• Serve over rice noodles which you have cooked as per packaging instructions and sprinkle with black cumin seeds. Enjoy!