30-Minute Vegan Pad Thai
Difficulty: 2/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 2/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
The Challenge: Pad Thai
Please note this is a preview of an upcoming recipe from my cookbook, Vegan Food That Doesn’t Suck. The cookbook is currently in the works. Pre-order here!
Do you like pad thai? Do you have a heartbeat?
Everyone loves pad thai. Noodles, veggies, delicious sauce, peanuts, lime. Fuckin awesome!
Issue - pad thai isn’t even vegetarian. Pad thai is nearly always made with fish sauce. It is what gives pad thai that sort of sweet but tangy salty flavor. That plus tamarind. Additionally, it is almost always made with eggs as well. The combination of fish + eggs make this a very not vegan friendly dish.
So, how we do we make pad thai vegan? First, to replace fish we use a combination of liquid aminos (soy sauce replacement) along with nori flakes and peanut butter. It creates a tang, a sweetnees, and a fishhhhy flavor. This pad thai sauce makes the dish A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Pad thai is a simple dish. This dish doesn’t take long. The skill is in the sauce, which tastes great.
Further, I used Just Egg for this dish. I really liked it. It was my first dish using it, but pad thai needs that egg-y softness to add in some creaminess + depth to the dish. The egg is a must, and if you haven’t tried Just Egg…its a really nice way to add egg when you want egg egg like for breakfast sandwiches, egg salad, etc.
Enjoy this frikin’ dank as hell pad thai!
Let’s get into it.
Ingredients:
Pad Thai Sauce
1.5 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl liquid aminos / soy sauce
1/2 tbl sriracha
1/2 lime, juiced
1.5 tbl peanut butter
1 garlic clove, minced
Spices: 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp chili flakes, 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbl nori flakes
1 tbl coconut sugar
2 tbl water
Veggies
1 tbl sesame oil
1 tbl olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips + halved
1 cup bean sprouts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup snap peas, diced
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 cup carrots, diced small bites
1 cup cilantro, divided 1/2 cups
The Rest
12 oz pad thai noodles
8 oz just egg (or silken tofu eggs)
1/2 cup raw peanuts
extra cilantro + bean sprouts
Equipment You'll Need:
Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Mixing Bowls . Whisk . Wok . Boiling Pot . Small Pan
Before You Cook:
Chop + wash fresh ingredients
Bring pot of water to a boil, add pad thai noodles and cook 6-7 minutes. Run under cold water and set aside.
1. To start, whisk together all the pad thai sauce ingredients.
2. Next, warm a wok over medium heat for 60 seconds with oils. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes then add edamame, carrots, and snap peas and cook another 3-4 minutes.
3. While the veggies are cooking, add peanuts (or cashews) to a dry castiron pan and cook over medium heat for 6-7 minutes until starting to brown and becomes fragrant.
4. Additionally, while the veggies cook. Prepare Just Egg over medium heat with 1 tbl of vegan butter or oil and cook until well prepared (6-8 minutes).
5. To finish, add the fish sauce to the veggies and cook for 60 seconds. Next, add Just Egg, noodles, and bean sprouts. Turn off heat and mix well.
6. To serve, add to bowl with fresh cilantro + bean sprouts.
