Thai Vegetable Rice Noodles

Photo via Cooking Light

If you read my blog you'll know that I don't get to eat what I cook very often.  As the lone vegetarian in a house full of carnivores, my choice for dinner is many times met with a squinted-up look of doubt from the masses.  Abe handles it pretty good, but I tend to make my veggie meals on the days we don't have Jimi to prevent a "It's good!  I swear.  Please try it!" conversation.

Thai food is a love that I don't get much of and when I do, it's pad Thai.  Abe and I are usually on opposite ends of the rice-or-noodle-dish spectrum, with him firmly on the rice end and me completely in love with noodle dishes (come on, noodles and a bowl... love, love, love).  So, when I saw this recipe, I thought I'd have to do an extra song and dance to sell it to him.

Surprisingly, Abe loved it.  So much that he packed up a bit to take to his mother to sample.

I had to make a few adjustments because we are a peanut-free home (sniff, sniff) and I had to swap out the fish sauce for soy sauce.

Fish sauce, for those who aren't familiar, is a great addition to not only Asian dishes, but anything that you want to give that bit of depth, like sauces or soups.  It gives dishes an umami component.  What's umami, you ask?  It's the 5th taste sense and it comes from things like mushrooms and meat.  If you don't want to get fish sauce, which keeps in the fridge for a long time, use soy sauce.

Original recipe from cookinglight.com.

Thai Vegetable Rice Noodles

 
4 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (pad Thai noodles) ( or any rice noodles)
1 cup thinly sliced radishes 
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
1 1/2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 Thai chiles, finely chopped
1 pound snow peas, trimmed
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
Sesame oil, for drizzling (optional)

Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain. Place in a medium bowl. Add radishes and next 6 ingredients (through fish sauce); toss well.

Combine oil, ginger, garlic, and chiles in a large skillet over low heat; cook for 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; cook an additional 1 minute or until garlic begins to brown. Add snow peas and salt to pan; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add snow pea mixture to noodle mixture; toss well. Sprinkle with nuts and drizzle sparingly with sesame oil, if using.

Pad Thai

 

I love Thai.  Spicy, tangy, noodles... what's not to like?   It's pretty simple to make, so you can have a great Thai dish whenever you want it!

This recipe is the vegetarian version; the real version has fish sauce in it.  You can add chicken or tofu to it if you want to get a little protein in it.

It's spicy, so if you don't care for the spice, decrease the amount of chili sauce or omit it completely.  You can find mung sprouts in the produce section with the Asian noodles.

Make sure the noodles soak long enough to be white.  If they seem like they aren't soft enough after adding to the wok, add a teaspoon of water to let them soften a bit more.  The noodles should be el dente, but not hard.

I got this from The Big Book of Vegetarian.

Enjoy!

Pad Thai
Serves 4

8 ounces dried rice noodles
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons tamari or reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 to 2 teaspoon hot chile sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoon peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger (bottled fresh is ok)
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into narrow strips
8 to 10 green onions, halved lengthwise and then cut into 2-inch lengths
1 cup mung bean sprouts
2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1 egg, scrambled (optional)
1 lime, sliced (optional)

In a large bowl, soak the rice noodles in warm water to cover until limp and white, about 25-30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, tamari, brown sugar, chile sauce and 1 tablespoon water.

In a wok or deep skillet over high heat, heat the oil.  Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  Add the carrot and green onions and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Stir in the lime juice-tamari mixture.

Drain the noodles and add to the wok, tossing with tongs until softened and curled, about 1 minute.  Add the sprouts and toss to mix.  Divide the mixture among 4 serving plates, sprinkle with peanuts and garnish with cilantro, egg and slices of lime, if desired.