Vegetarian Pad Thai

I've already told you all about my love for pasta. What I have not mentioned, however, is that this love is not exclusively limited to your garden variety Italian sort of pasta. Chow Mein, Ramen, Pad Thai--they all totally count too. 

Pad Thai is a fun dish to make. But it can also be a bit of a frustrating one as well. 

See I'm the kind of person who likes to do things right the first time. Bluffing my way through a rough draft of a paper in college, knowing I'd have time to spruce it up before the final draft came around? No sir. Either I do something, or I don't.  Partial effort is not something I'm familiar with. 

Which is exactly why dishes that involve complicated or rare ingredients can sometimes give me a bit of anxiety. 

It's not that I don't want to make it correctly, it's just that sometimes, palm sugar or tamarind paste or preserved turnip aren't always available at the local grocery store. Shocking I know. And well, sometimes it's best to quit while you're ahead.

My solution has been to come up with an accessible, affordable alternative to some of the recipes that inevitably cause me some serious strife as I wander the aisles refusing to stop searching for that one ingredient that just can't be found, because, I'm too stubborn for words and, darn it, I'm going to do this recipe right!   

This recipe has all the flavor of Pad Thai, but none of that same frustration. The only original, less familiar ingredient that can't really be avoided is that tricky little bottle of fish sauce. That one is pretty essential. 

Sorry my friends, but I couldn't eliminate all the challenges now could I? 

What fun would there be in that? 

Vegetarian Pad Thai
Serves 2-3

6 ounces dried rice noodles, soaked in warm water until soft, then drained

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium sized shallots, chopped

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons fishsauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons dried red chili powder

¾ cup extra firm tofu, cut into ¼-½ inch strips

1 cup bean sprouts

½ cup green onion, sliced

2 eggs

¼ cup cashews, roasted and roughly chopped

The juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Place rice noodles into a large bowl, fill with warm water and leave to soak until noodles are flexible but not too soft. Drain. 

Heat the oil in a wok or very large pan over medium heat and add the garlic and shallots. Sauté until fragrant. Turn heat to medium-high and add the noodles, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Add the sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and chili powder, stirring to combine.

Push ingredients inside the wok to the side to make space in which to crack the eggs directly into the pan. Stir continuously until eggs have scrambled then stir to combine with other ingredients.

Add the tofu, bean sprouts, and green onion--cook for additional 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat. Top with cashews and drizzle with lime juice, adding salt and pepper as desired. Serve hot.