Everyday Pad Thai

Thursday, January 16

Everyday Pad Thai  

Rating: 4.25

I love Pad Thai, and for years I had no idea how to make it. I tried several recipes but none were even close to the restaurant versions I so loved. Then along came the Happy Herbivore Cheater Pad Thai recipe and, oh happy day!  (scroll to the bottom of that link for a demo video of the recipe) I’ve made that recipe more times than I can count over the last few years. The last time I made Pad Thai, I decided to branch out and try the Everyday Pad Thai recipe in Isa Does It. I was not disappointed. It’s really not much more involved than the HH recipe, although it does use more ingredients. I never, ever leave tofu alone when I put it in Asian dishes, so I pressed it, dry-fried it, and marinated it in tamari, sesame oil, rice vinegar, mirin, and sriracha. I fried it in the wok with a tiny bit of oil and then set it aside and proceeded with the recipe from there (except I was out of sprouts). The sauce is super easy to make and you can whip it up while the broccoli is cooking. We normally add extra veggies like carrot to Pad Thai, but this time, I just went with the recipe as written. Oh, and use the fresh lime juice – it’s so much better than the stuff in a bottle. I used about 2 limes to get the necessary ¼ cup. Also, get one of those citrus juicer tool thingies – so much easier than squeezing them with your fingers and you get way more juice out of the fruit. This recipe is a little on the spicy side, which it should be in my opinion, but if you want it milder, just you know, cut back the amount of sriracha in the sauce or leave it out altogether. I was out of peanuts, so I didn’t have those for the garnish, but it was still good. It’s better with the nuts. And don’t skimp on the cilantro. I don’t generally like cilantro, but you need the flavor of it in the sauce. You can leave it off the top, though.