Pad Thai at home

One of my favorite takeout dishes is pad thai. I don’t order takeout often because I usually prefer to eat restaurant food at a restaurant while it’s fresh, and I also think I can make just as good or better food at home. But pad thai can handle the trip from a restaurant to my house, and it’s really complicated to make it at home, so it’s one dish I’m willing to order for takeout. Having it delivered is a nice treat every once in a while too.

This recipe is not authentic and doesn’t taste like how you’d get pad thai at a restaurant, but it’s delicious enough to hold over my takeout cravings.

When I order pad thai at a restaurant I usually order it with chicken, but when I make it from home I like to make it with tofu.

Like many veterans of 2014 Tumblr I was once a vegan. Around that time, veganism was a trend across social media and I, as a young teenager, fell into it. I was vegan for less than a year, and I honestly don’t remember what I ate or how I felt about it, but one thing that came out of it was my likeness for tofu and ability to cook it well.

I used to swear by the method of pressing tofu, freezing in small pieces, then thawing when I wanted to use it. That method does result in a good chewy texture similar to real meat. But recently I tried skipping the freezing out of laziness and discovered that it tasted just as good as when I do freeze it. So, I am either super accustomed to the texture of tofu by now where I don’t need to take extra steps to make it more chewy, or I just never needed to do that step in the first place. Either way, hooray for evolving!

I really love cooking tofu this way and making all kinds of stir-fries with it. When I’m lazy, I’m using this jarred pad thai sauce from Thai Kitchen, but often make my own sauces with oyster and soy sauce, fresh garlic and ginger, and other condiments. Stir-fries are also great meals to get a lot of veggies in, and I especially love some barely cooked, still crunchy broccoli.

Crispy tofu
• 1 block firm or extra firm tofu
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Cornstarch

1. Remove the block of tofu from the package and set on a plate with a layer of paper towels underneath it. You can also use a lint-free dish cloth to avoid waste.

2. Place a cutting board on top of the tofu block, with another layer or paper towel between it and the tofu. Place heavy books or a heavy pan on top of the cutting board, and let it press as long as possible (30 minutes minimum, but a few hours is best).

3. If you’re able to let it press for a few hours, change the paper towels every hour or so and dry the plate. Enough water will come out to pool at the bottom of the plate, so you’ll want to drain it periodically.

4. When ready to use the tofu, remove it and cut into any small shape (cubes, rectangles, planks, etc).

5. Place tofu pieces in a large bowl, and toss with a drizzle of olive oil. Just enough to coat them. Sprinkle with salt, then stir. Sprinkle with more salt, then stir. Tofu really needs a lot of salt, way more than you might think.

6. Sprinkle with a few tbsps of cornstarch, just until all the pieces are evenly coated. They shouldn’t look dry or white with cornstarch.

7. Place cubes on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and bake at 400° F until golden brown, 25-40 minutes depending on your oven.

Homemade Pad Thai (or any stir-fry, really)
• 4-6oz rice noodles
• 2 cups broccoli florets, sliced thin
• Heaping 1/2 cup tofu cubes
• 3-5 tbsp pad thai sauce
• 2 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• Crushed red chili flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Fill a large pot with water and salt to cook the rice noodles in, just like you were cooking pasta. Bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, add the sliced garlic and a sprinkle of chili flakes to a large skillet with the olive oil and cook until the garlic turns lightly golden. Turn off the heat.

3. Once the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook according to package instructions. When the noodles have 2-3 minutes left of cooking time, add the broccoli florets. Cook until noodles are done and broccoli is bright green.

4. Turn the heat back on under the skillet, and use tongs to transfer noodles and broccoli into the pan. Along with a few tbsps of the cooking water, add the pad thai sauce.

5. Cook until sauce is starting to thicken and then add in the tofu cubes. Adding them in at the very last minute is enough time to get them coated in the sauce without them going too soggy. Just cook for 1-2 minutes until sauce is totally thickened, then serve.