Post Punk Kitchen - Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Everyday Pad Thai

195 Comments

Serves 4
Total time: 30 minutes || Active time: 30 minutes

Everyday Pad Thai
Photo by Vanessa Rees

Here it is: the quintessential sweet and sour Thai noodle. Also, the key to my heart. If I didn’t think it would give me some sort of vitamin deficiency, I’d probably eat Pad Thai for every meal. This recipe introduces my super top secret ingredient. (Um, as usual it’s miso.) It adds a bit of fermented depth that mimics traditional fish sauce. I have a recipe for Pad Thai in Vegan With A Vengeance, but this one is from Isa Does It, which means…it’s much, much, simpler! We’ll get back to the recipe in a sec, but first I have to share my excitement about the new book.

We are exactly a month away from the release of Isa Does It and in many ways, this feels like I’m releasing my first cookbook ever. After all, it is my first full-color, hardcover book! Perfect for gift-giving, coffee tabling, and yeah, even cooking from.

So I’m hoping that you love it as much as I do. And I don’t forget for a second that I couldn’t have written it without you. I am grateful for all of the feedback and support as well as the ideas and inspiration I get from you guys. There’s something so motivating about putting up a recipe and having someone far away prepare it only hours later. It warms my cold, gothic heart.

In addition to saying “thank you”, I’m giving away this cool Isa Does It tote for preodering the book (USA only.) All you have to do is forward your preorder receipt and your mailing address to littlebrown@hbgusa.com and boom, the perfect vehicle for hauling your veggies in your hot little hands.

Isa Does It Tote

Full details here. So if you haven’t already, please do preorder, and if you already have, no worries, you can still get the tote. Yay!

And now….back to the Pad Thai.

Usually Pad Thai is made to serve, one order at a time. But if I have no one to impress, I’m not going through the trouble. It isn’t exactly authentic, but it gets the job done with common ingredients and has a great balance of sweet, sour, spice and salty. And if Sriracha and miso are not common ingredients to you, they definitely will be after digging in to this!

Notes

~Rice noodles come packed in all different quantities and nothing seems to be consistent. I think that 8 oz is just about perfect. If you have a package that is more than that, I would suggest making all of the noodles and using the leftovers in a salad the next day. Perhaps with some Peanut Sauce? But more than 8 oz make it really difficult to stir the noodles properly.~To get this done in 30 minutes, start the water boiling for the noodles the second you step through the door. Be really careful not to overcook them. Most packages say to boil water, then turn the heat off and soak the noodles for 8 or so minutes. That seems to work perfectly for all brands, no matter what the cooking directions say. Set a timer so that you don’t overcook because they will disintegrate on you. Once cooked, immediately drain them and run under cold water to stop from cooking any further. Follow those steps and you will have perfect noodles every time!

~I prepare this dish all in one pan. While the tofu browns, I prep everything else. Then remove the tofu and prepare the rest. You might save a little time by using 2 pans, but this method has served me well over the years.

~You can follow these directions for perfectly browned tofu, if you’ve had any tofu issues in the past.

Ingredients

8 oz pad thai rice noodles, cooked according to package directions, immediately rinsed with cold water and cooled (see note above)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
14 oz tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
4 cups brocolli florettes and thinly sliced stems
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups scallion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 cup lightly packed cilantro, chopped
4 oz mung bean sproutsFor the sauce:
2 tablespoons tomato paste
5 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce (use gluten-free tamari to make this gluten-free)
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons Sriracha
2 tablespoons mellow white miso
1/4 cup water

To serve:
3/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Extra lime wedges

Directions

First make the tofu. You’ll need a large cast iron pan, or something non-stick that can take very high heat. Preheat pan over high heat. Once pan is good and hot, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the cubed tofu and sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon salt. The tofu should immediately sizzle when it hits the hot the pan, otherwise, turn the heat up. Cook for about 7 minutes, tossing often, until it’s nicely browned.In the meantime, mix together all of the ingredients for the sauce and set aside. The miso may not completely dissolve, but that’s okay, just get it as smooth as possible.

When tofu is browned, transfer it to a plate and cover gently with tin foil to keep warm. In the same pan, cook the broccoli in 2 teaspoons oil with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cover the pan in between stirring, to get it to cook faster. It should take about 5 minutes, and be lightly charred in some places. Transfer to the same plate as the tofu.

Now we’ll cook the sauce. Lower heat to medium. Cook the garlic in the remaining oil very briefly, about 15 seconds. Add the scallion and cilantro and toss just to get it wilted. Now pour in about half the sauce and get it heated through.

Add the noodles and toss to coat. Then add back the tofu and broccoli, the mung beans and the remaining sauce, and toss to coat.

Serve immediately, topped with peanuts and lime wedges, plus extra cilantro if desired.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This was one of my favorites from testing! BTW: in the ingredients list right after tofu you have “1/2 teaspoon divided” which should say salt 🙂

    Reply

  3. Isa, can I hop on a plane to wherever you’re at to give you the biggest hug ever? Just from the mouthwatering pictures, I can tell I’ll be drooling over this dish!

    Reply

  8. I must be using different strengths of ingredients, 5 tablespoons of soy sauce in plus 2 tablespoon of white miso paste is way too much… I TSB of dark soy and 1/2 TBS of white miso is well enough for that quantity… we must also have very different tastes…

    Reply

  12. I just made this and it was awesome! It really tastes like good pad Thai. For the commenter about the miso and soy sauce, I followed the directions exactly and it was perfect- it is not too much of either. Definitely adding to my repertoire!

    Reply

  13. So the grilled ramen was the best thing ever, but this looks like it could be very close to taking over as my favorite of your recipes. Totally gives me a good “home from work travel” meal idea for later this week. It will be quite a reward.

    Reply

  16. Wow I just made pad thai a few nights ago and I tried to make up my own recipe using chickpeas instead of tofu and shredded jicama instead of bean sprouts. My chickpeas didn’t get very crispy, the jicama wouldn’t shred, and I used too much sauce. I think I’ll stick to this recipe from now on. Also, I’m so excited for your new book. Whenever one gets delivered to my doorstep it’s always like Christmas.

    Reply

  17. Followed the recipe exactly (flavor-wise) and it tastes amazing! Thank you! Once I cooked everything, I just tossed it all in a large bowl and stirred it up, as it was too large for my skillet. I then heated all of the sauce in the pan, and poured it over the noodles and veggies. The only thing I’d change in the future is adding a tiny bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce before pouring it over the noodles and veggies.

    Reply

  18. So excited about the bag! I cancelled my kindle pre order, and ordered the hard cover instead after your description a while back of how awesome it’s going to be 🙂

    Reply

  19. Whoa I can’t WAIT to make this! So, I can’t do soy… While I’m thinking coconut aminos for the soy sauce, what might you recommend I sub in for the miso?

    Reply

  20. When I go out to Thai restaurants I usually go for curries and fried rice because I can never seem to make it quite like they do. But I tried this tonight and this was as good as any Pad Thai I’ve ever had. I did everything as instructed, except I like everything noodle+sauce to be really saucy so I made a little extra. I kinda winged the second sauce mixture so hopefully I didn’t throw off the balance of flavors too much, but I absolutely loved it. Perfect amount of sour, sweet and spicy (plus I LOVE cilantro so any excuse for me to use it I am in)

    Reply

  22. I was recently looking for a pad thai recipe that tastes amazing without needing to use eggs, and I think this one will do the trick! I really appreciate the time you put into developing your recipes for this blog and your cookbooks. I was a meat and three veg girl until I decided to go cold turkey vegan 5 years ago (pun intended) and of course I found out about you and Terry. Together you have helped me to learn how to cook (properly!). I have all of your books except the cupcake one (because it would just be too much of a temptation) and I just cannot wait for this new one to come out. Thanks!! =)

    Reply

  24. Isa! I could write you a lengthy, pages long love-esque letter about how much I adore you and your recipes and books. Instead I’ll make it shorter (and less stalker-ey seeming) and say that I’m so, so, SO excited for the new book. You are the best, congratulations on the book & all your hard work. Only a month left! Amazing.

    Reply

  25. This looks ah-mazing! Thank you for being so awesome. Vegan with a Vengeance was the last push that made me go vegan oh so many years ago. This new book comes at a perfect time in my life since I just gave birth a sweet little vegan baby and don’t have as much time to spend in the kitchen. I already pre-ordered!!! Can’t wait!

    Reply

  27. Oh my god, pad thai is fantastic. I can’t get the miso (well I can, but it would require an hour and a half drive or days worth of waiting at the mail box) but the rest I can either scrounge up or make at home (sriracha is on my to-make-from-scratch list!).

    Ah, great, now I’m drooling a little just at the thought.

    Reply

  28. Made this yesterday for dinner and it was amazing. I also was wondering about the huge amount of soy sauce and lime juice. But i know from several of your recipes i cooked bevor, i can trust you. 🙂
    So it was great! And today the leftovers make my day at lunch.

    Greetings from a happy german girl!
    fait

    Reply

  30. This was very good! I made it last night. I made it ALMOST to the recipe. I used chilli-garlic instead of sirracha, and I added some Tamarind concentrate.

    It was very close to authentic. There was….something missing. I think that next time I will use MORE tamarind! I think it needed it. And maybe more lime. And possibly ginger or lemongrass with the garlic

    Leftovers were great. People at work were asking me for the recipe and I directed them here 🙂

    Reply

  33. Can’t wait to try this recipe and I REALLY can’t wait for the new book! Just pre-ordered yesterday! I love your recipes and your unique writing style!

    Reply

  36. Isa, I made this tonight and it was awesome!!! (Even though I left out the sriracha and didn’t have quite enough miso) We are now all pad Thai converts in our house- thanks 🙂 PS: I browned the tofu in the oven and we also had roasted kabocha as an accompaniment.

    Reply

  38. Couple of things – can you say whether you used fresh or dried rice noodles! We had to get creative on the fly to adapt. Also we found it very sweet despite cutting down the sugar, although we used light soy sauce which may have unbalanced it.

    Still super tasty though!

    Reply

  39. Had this last night. So delicious! Added a bit of tamarind to the sauce (because I happen to have some and I have no idea what else to do with the jar I bought). Seriously delicious! Thanks for all your delicious recipes and the work you do!

    Reply

  41. This was good! I followed advice of a Thai cook, who said do not ever blanch noodles, otherwise they come out gummy. I was doubtful, but she was right! This had a nice balance of sour and sweet.

    Reply

  42. Sorry, I should have added: rather than blanch rice noodles, soak them for about 30 minutes until they are pliable. Drain well.
    Isa, I really appreciate how you are coming up with weeknight do-ables! Thanks.

    Reply

  44. I made this last week and it was so delicious !!! I omitted mung bean sprouts and white miso but still the taste was amazing. My hubby loved it!! Keep up the good work dear 🙂

    Reply

  46. This is amazingly delicious but in manhattan, without going to Chinatown, bean sprouts are no longer readily available by the pound (also tofu which used to be 3 squares for $1) so gathering the ingredients is a bit of a hassle but oh so worth it. I regularly order vegan pad Thai from a local vegan Asian joint, but this has them beat by a mile.

    And as I’ve been mooning over remembering that fantastic meal, my eggplant bacon almost burned up. Another winner.

    Thank you again and again for publishing the most reliable recipes.

    Reply

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