Pad Thai Pseudo
Submitted by terrirosen
An easy homemade pad Thai that skips hard-to-find tamarind, leaning on fish sauce, vinegar, and paprika for that sweet-sour-salty tang. Chewy rice noodles tossed with tofu, shrimp, egg, bean sprouts, and crushed peanuts.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
2 hrsReal-deal pad Thai usually hinges on tamarind paste, and if you don’t have it, you’re stuck. This pseudo version solves that by building the sweet-sour-salty sauce from pantry staples instead: fish sauce for funk and salt, white vinegar for tang, and paprika for warm red color and a gentle heat. The result lands remarkably close to the original, no specialty shopping required.
A couple of techniques make or break it. Soak the rice noodles in warm, not boiling, water until pliable but not mushy; they finish cooking in the wok as they drink up the sauce. Press the tofu under a weight first so it’s firm enough to hold its cubes and brown rather than crumble.
The egg trick is worth following closely. Crack the eggs right into the wok, cover them with noodles, and let them set undisturbed before breaking them into bits through the noodles. That gives you tender little curds scattered throughout instead of scrambled mush. Finish off the heat with bean sprouts, scallions, crushed peanuts, and as much roasted chili as you can take.
Pro Tips
- Soak the noodles in warm water, not boiling, until just pliable. They keep cooking in the wok, so leave them slightly underdone or they turn to mush.
- Press the tofu under a weight for about 30 minutes. Drier tofu browns and holds its shape.
- Add the sauce all at once and keep stirring until the noodles absorb it. That’s when they finish cooking and take on flavor.
- Let the eggs set undisturbed before breaking them up, so you get tender curds, not a scramble.
Variations
- Make it vegetarian by dropping the shrimp and using soy sauce in place of fish sauce.
- Add thinly sliced chicken or extra shrimp for a heartier plate.
- Squeeze fresh lime over the top and pile on more chili and peanuts at the table.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine first four ingredients and let sit until sugar dissolves.
Soak rice noodles/sticks in warm water until they are soft but don’t disintegrate when pressed, about 40 minutes.
Drain.
Drain tofu by wrapping it in a clean towel and pressing with a large can of tomatoes, about 30 minutes.
Cut into ¼ inch cubes. Rinse dried shrimp in water and drain.
Put oil in wok, heat to medium, put in crushed garlic.
Swirl around for about a minute.
Add noodles and mix around for a minute or two.
Add the tofu and shrimp then immediately add the liquid.
Keep stirring until the liquid has all been absorbed into the noodles, about a couple of minutes.
Lower heat to low or medium-low.
Push some of the stuff aside at one end of wok, and break an egg in.
Immediately cover with noodles.
Do the same at the other end of wok.
Let the eggs cook undisturbed until the yolks are practically cooked, about three minutes.
Slip a slotted spoon under each egg in turn, and bring upward, through the noodles, shaking as you go.
The idea is to break up the cooked egg into the rest of the mixture into tiny bits.
Mix in sprouts and green onions.
Let cook for another two minutes.
Turn off heat.
Add crushed peanuts and enough roasted red chilies to your desired hotness.
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