Pad Thai with tofu

Turning this great non-recipe for Pad Thai into a simple recipe. The sauce in particular should be adjusted to taste and ingredients.

¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup tamarind puree
2 tbl. brown sugar
½ tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)

220 g rice noodles

2 tbl. vegetable oil
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed (optional)
16 oz. firm tofu, cut into bite size pieces
1-2 eggs
8 oz mung bean sprouts
2-4 tbl. roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely ground
2 scallions, chopped
pickled turnips (optional)

Combine the fish sauce, tamarind puree, and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until just a simmer. Add the cayenne pepper and adjust to taste. Remove from heat.

Soak rice noodles in hot water until al dente and drain (20-30 minutes or according to package instructions).

Heat oil in a hot wok or frying pan and fry tofu until slightly browned on all sides. Add garlic briefly, then noodles and sauce. Stir fry until noodles are soft. Move to the side and crack eggs in the middle. Scramble in place and cook for a few seconds before mixing into the noodles and cooking a bit more. Add peanuts, bean sprouts, pickled turnips, and scallions, and cook until done.

Makes 2 servings. If you scale it up, cook no more than 2 servings at a time.

 

Miso ramen

 I made this recipe without the ground pork for the stock, and using 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable stock base with a quart of water. It was quite strong and salty, and I ended up adding a couple cups more water. I would just use a small amount of stock base next time, the miso and bean paste give lots of flavor already. I could have ground the sesame seeds more finely (I used a mortar and pestle).

The ramen eggs were perfect.