This delicious one-pot Pad Thai recipe by award-winning cook Anna Jones hits just the right balance of zingy and fresh, crunchy and comforting. Taken from her new book One Pot, Pan, Planet
IMAGE: ISSY CROKER
Crispy Tofu and Broccoli Pad Thai
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the tofu and broccoli
- 250 g flat wide rice noodles
- 250 g block of firm tofu
- 250 g purple-sprouting broccoli
- neutral oil for frying I like odourless coconut oil or another neutral-flavoured oil for cooking
- 2 tablespoons soy or tamari sauce
- 3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cm piece of ginger peeled and grated
- 6 spring onions thinly sliced
- 2 organic eggs optional
- 100 g beansprouts
For the sauce
- 4 tablespoons tamarind paste
- 1 tablespoon vegetarian fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
To serve
- 100 g roasted unsalted peanuts roughly chopped
- 2 red chillies finely chopped
- 1 small handful of Thai basil leaves shredded
- 1 small handful of mint leaves shredded
- a handful of crispy shallots (see notes below)
- 2 unwaxed limes
Instructions
- Soak the rice noodles in cold water for at least 10 minutes until softened. Lay the tofu between 2 sheets of kitchen paper on a plate or clean surface. Place a small plate over the top and a jar or weight on the plate to press down. Leave the tofu like this to dry out for half an hour.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl with 4 tablespoons of cold water. Set aside. Cut the broccoli into florets and thinly slice the stalks, keeping them separate.
- Slice the tofu into 1cm-thick pieces about half the length of your little finger. In a large non-stick frying pan or wok, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over a medium-high heat, then fry the pieces of tofu for 6-8 minutes, turning them every minute, until golden all over. Add the soy sauce and stir for another 30 seconds (be careful here, as the sauce may spit). Lift the tofu out of the pan with a slotted spoon onto a plate. Keep warm in a low oven.
- When cool enough, wipe the pan out with kitchen paper and add a couple more tablespoons of oil. Heat over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the broccoli stalks, drained noodles and 6 tablespoons of water and cook for 3-4 minutes until the broccoli stems are tender and the noodles are beginning to cook and crisp up. Add the broccoli florets, sauce and most of the spring onions along with 2 more tablespoons of water. Stir and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the noodles are soft enough to eat.
- If you are using eggs, push the noodles to the side of the wok and add a little more oil, then the eggs. Pierce the yolks and, when starting to set on the bottom, scramble, then mix into the noodles.
- Take the pan off the heat and fold through the beansprouts, then spoon the noodles between four warm plates. Sprinkle over the peanuts and the rest of the spring onions. Scatter over the chillies, herbs and crispy shallots. Squeeze over the juice of a lime, and serve immediately, with wedges of the other lime.
Notes
To make your crispy shallots: Heat 1cm of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok until a sliver of onion dropped into it sizzles immediately. Fry 6 peeled and thinly sliced shallots in batches stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes each batch, or until they are crisp and lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander lined with kitchen paper. Let them cool. They will keep in an airtight container for about a week.
Recipe taken from One Pot, Pan, Planet: A Greener Way To Cook For You, Your Family and the Planet by Anna Jones. Photography by Issy Croker, published by Fourth Estate. RRP £26
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