Rick Stein’s Pad Thai with Tofu
If you're looking for an authentic pad Thai, bookmark this recipe from Rick Stein. It is packed with flavour-deepening ingredients that give this dish its complex mix of salty, spicy, sour and sweet flavours.
From the book
Introduction
I wrote this recipe after a trip to a tofu factory just outside Leeds – I was so interested to find that perfectly good tofu is now made in this country. The flavour was great but what I also liked was that though much of the process was automated, they cut the tofu by hand, giving it a home-made look and feel. The rest of the recipe is based on a pad Thai I filmed years ago in Bangkok at a stall by the Ghost Gate, so named because it is next to a large cemetery. An excellent location for feeding famished mourners. I like the flavour of the dried shrimp, but feel free to leave it out if you prefer.
Ingredients
| 175g | Thai folded rice noodles |
| 4 tbsp plus 1 tsp | vegetable oil |
| 2 tbsp | Thai fish sauce |
| 2 tbsp | tamarind water (see tip) |
| ½ tsp | chilli flakes |
| 2 tbsp | sweet chilli sauce |
| 1 tbsp | palm sugar or brown soft sugar |
| 200g | firm tofu, cut into 1.5cm dice |
| 1 | garlic clove, grated |
| 2 | eggs, beaten |
| 50g | bean sprouts |
| 1 tbsp | dried shrimp (optional) |
| 4 | spring onions, trimmed, halved and shredded lengthways |
| Small handful of | fresh coriander, roughly chopped 50g roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped To serve Lime wedges and extra coriander leaves and chilli flakes |
| 50g | roasted peanuts, coarsley chopped |
| To serve: | |
|---|---|
| lime wedges and extra coriander leaves and chilli flakes |
Method
Bring a pan of water to the boil, drop in the noodles and cook for about 3 minutes until just tender. Drain them well, refresh with cold water, then drain again and toss in a teaspoon of oil to prevent them clumping together. Set aside.
Combine the fish sauce, tamarind water, chilli flakes, chilli sauce and sugar in a small bowl, then set aside.
Heat the 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok and fry the cubes of tofu in batches until golden. Remove the tofu and set it aside to keep warm.
Add the remaining oil to the wok, add the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds, then add the drained noodles and stir-fry for a minute. Push the noodles to one side, add the eggs and scramble them in the base of the wok.
Add the bowl of sauce and combine it with the noodles, then add the bean sprouts, dried shrimp, if using, the fried tofu, spring onions, coriander and peanuts. Mix well and let everything warm through. Divide between warmed bowls and garnish with lime wedges, coriander leaves and chilli flakes.
TIP To make tamarind water, take 60g of tamarind pulp and put it in a bowl with 150ml of hand-hot water. Work the paste with your fingers until it has broken down and the seeds have been released. Strain the slightly syrupy mixture through a fine sieve into another bowl and discard the fibrous material left behind. The water is now ready to use and can be kept in the fridge for 24 hours.
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