Easy Pad Thai

While Pad Thai can be complicated, this Easy Pad Thai still delivers authentic flavour. Vegetarians can use soy sauce in place of fish sauce and leave out the pork and prawns and increase the tofu by 300g. There are also vegan alternatives for shrimp paste called kapi chae in Thai. As long as the sauce used doesn’t have gluten in it, this is also gluten-free.

Ingredients

200g dried rice noodles
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 eschallots or 1 medium red onion, sliced
200g pork fillet, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 small red chillies, finely chopped
250g small green prawns, shelled and deveined
1 teaspoon shrimp paste or dried shrimp or vegan substitute (optional)
100g silken firm tofu, cut in 3cm squares
200g snow peas, trimmed, sliced diagonally
1 ½ cups (120g) bean sprouts
¼ cup (60mls) fresh lime juice (1 large lime)
2 tablespoons (40mls) Thai fish sauce or soy sauce
½ cup (70g) dry roasted, unsalted peanuts (or cashews), chopped
2 tablespoons chopped garlic chives or 6 green onions (green shallots), thinly sliced
½ cup (45g) fried shallots
2 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
Lime cheeks to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Soak rice noodles in warm water until soft (approx 10 mins) and then drain. Do not soak for longer or they will become gluggy when you cook them.
Heat ½ tablespoon oil in wok over medium high heat, add eggs and swirl to make a thin omelette. Remove, roll up and slice thinly.
Pour in remaining oil and fry eschallots or onion for a minute or two before adding the pork, garlic and chilli and cook until pork is cooked through. Add the prawns, shrimp paste (if using), and mix well. Mix tofu through gently, then snow peas and bean sprouts.
Combine lime juice with fish or soy sauce and stir through gently with drained noodles. Add half of the peanuts, chives, fried shallots and coriander and toss again. Taste for seasoning.
Serve immediately, garnished with omelette slices and the remaining, peanuts, chives, fried shallots and coriander leaves. Garnish with lime cheeks if desired.