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This isn't actually my veganized pad thai recipe, but a "sister dish" of pad thai called "Pad Mee Korat." It's a local specialty of a northeastern Thai town called "Korat" which happens to be my mom's hometown! My grandmother always makes this dish every time I visit home, although she usually adds pork to her version, the noodles themselves are vegan, and omitting meat is no issue because the real heart of this recipe is in the delicious sauce!
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Vegan Pad Thai (Pad Mee Korat)
- Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 4 oz dry rice noodles, medium size (2 mm wide)
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- ¾ cup pressed tofu, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp palm sugar, chopped, packed
- 1 small head shallot, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- ¾ cup garlic chives, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
Note: If you eat eggs, you can add 2 eggs to this recipe.
Sauce
-
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ Tbsp fermented soybean paste or "tao jiew" or substitute 1 Tbsp Korean doenjang or Japanese miso (what is tao jiew)
- 2 ½ - 3 Tbsp tamarind concentrate (what is tamarind concentrate?)
- ½ - 1 tsp chili flakes, or to taste
- 3 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Soak rice noodles in room temperature water for 1 hour or until they turn white. Drain and set aside. You can soak the noodles in advance, drain, and keep in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to use, up to 2-3 days.
- Make the sauce: Add tao jiew to a small bowl and mash roughly with a fork to break up the soybeans (if using miso or doenjang, place in a small bowl it with 1 Tbsp of water and stir to loosen the paste.) Add all remaining sauce ingredients and stir to mix.
- Add just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of a wok or a large sauté pan, heat over medium high heat until hot, then add mushrooms and tofu. Spread them out and let sear until golden. Toss and continue to cook for 1 more minute or until the mushrooms are cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
- To the same pan, heat about 2 ½ Tbsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, shallots and palm sugar and cook, stirring frequently until the sugar caramelizes into a deep brown colour.
- Deglaze with the sauce then add the rice noodles, mushrooms and tofu. Keep tossing until all the sauce has been absorbed. Taste the noodles, and if they are still undercooked, add a splash of water and let cook until dry again.
- If you want to add eggs: Once the noodles have absorbed most of the sauce, push the noodles to one side. Add eggs into the empty space, break the yolks and let the eggs set about half way. Then put the noodles over the eggs and let the eggs cook for 30 more seconds until the egg is set. Then toss to break up the eggs.
- Turn off the heat, add bean sprouts and garlic chives and toss to mix. Taste and adjust seasoning. Plate and sprinkle with roasted peanuts, if using.
Diana Nguyen
Best vegan alternative to Pad Thai, it was my first time making it but it was super easy. Just follow the measurements out and you'll get perfect Pad Mee Korat!
★★★★★
James Balfour
Thank you Pai, that was delicious, it blew my mind, I actually made a dish that tasted like a real Pad Thai (Pad Mee Korat)! I can’t wait to make it for my children, here’s cheers!
Jennifer
I've been trying for weeks to make pad Thai, with embarrassing results. Your nonvegan pad Thai recipe was highly recommended, so I was excited to see that you had a version I could eat. I made this mostly faithfully -- I had to do the miso variant, and use turbinado instead of palm sugar. But even with the modifications, it's easily the best pad Thai I've ever made. Thank you forever!
★★★★★
Julianna
I love this recipe! It's so quick to make, and so so tasty!
★★★★★
Nicki
Excellent! Thanks for posting this!
★★★★★
Kris
Super good! Thankyou Pai!
★★★★★
Futile Resistance
Better than actual Pad Thai - don't @ me!
Best with loads of bean sprouts and chives for freshness and bite.
★★★★★