While we’re isolating at home, I have been working to recreate some of our favorite restaurant dishes. Pad thai is one of my boyfriend’s go-to dishes. I asked him why he loves this dish and this is how he answered: “It’s delicious!” While that’s not really the answer I was looking for, it’s true! I like this dish because it’s a little sweet, salty, and spicy. Quite honestly, though, anything with peanut butter I’ll love. Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below!
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Level: Easy
Ingredients:
Fried Tofu:
14 oz Extra Firm Tofu
½ cup Cornstarch
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Noodle/Vegetable Mixture:
1 8 oz. package of Rice Noodles (or any other Asian noodle!)
1 Medium Yellow Pepper (thinly sliced)
2 Medium Carrots (shredded)
4 cups Kale (shredded)
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Sauce:
4 tbsp Peanut Butter
5 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Maple Syrup
4 tbsp Water (Warm!)
2 tsp Garlic Chili Sauce
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
Optional:
Sesame Seeds and Peanuts for topping!
Directions:
Frying Tofu:
- Press your tofu by placing it between two layers of paper towels. Place a heavy-weighted pan or cutting board over the top layer of paper towel. Allow the tofu to sit like this for ~15 minutes.
- Cube tofu into bite sized pieces.
- Toss tofu in cornstarch until evenly coated.
- In a large frying pan, heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil over medium to high heat. Add tofu to oil and fry until golden brown and crisp on all sides. *Note: the oil gets hot pretty quickly (about 3 minutes). Cover the frying pan to ensure you don’t get burned by the hot oil!*
- Place a cooling rack over a few layers of paper towels. Remove tofu from the pan and place it on the cooling rack to cool.
Noodles and Vegetables:
- Cook rice noodles according to package instructions.
- In the same frying pan used to fry the tofu, heat a tablespoon of oil and saute vegetables until soft.
- While the noodles and vegetables are cooking, mix together sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Once the noodles are done cooking, immediately add them to the vegetables and mix well.
- In the frying pan, add sauce to the noodle and vegetable mixture. Toss to mix well.
- Serve noodles and vegetables warm with fried tofu. Top with sesame seeds and peanuts for an extra crunch!
Enjoy!
