Ad: This is a sponsored post
Confession time... I'm a vegan food blogger who's really not that into tofu. I've never seen the appeal - it doesn't taste of much, slightly soggy texture, a faff to cook. Why bother? That is, until I tried tofu cooked 'properly' at Thai restaurants and then at Wagamama - suddenly the texture was beautiful, a really crispy coating with the spongy insides, literally soaking up all the flavours of the dish.
I needed to re-create this incredible tofu at home, and read that the way to achieve this amazing texture was to press all the liquid out of it. But oh, what a faff - the common method seemed to be squashing the tofu between two plates, weighted down with pans, tins or heavy books. I tried this once or twice, and the results were fairly good, but with water all over the worktop and tins falling off everywhere, this was never going to catch on.
Then an e-mail pinged in to my inbox from Ben, the inventor and manufacturer of the EZ Tofu Press who have just started selling in the UK and wondered if I would like to test one. Yes please!
You can see how I got on below - it is such a simple idea, just two sheets of tough food-safe plastic, with tough bolts which you tighten to increase the tension every few minutes, and simply squeeze the water out of your tofu, (which needs to be the firm or extra-firm variety, not silken). You can stand it upright on a plate like I did, or even stand it in the sink so the water runs straight down the plughole as it drains out. No mess, no spills, super easy and perfect crispy tofu!
Armed with my trusty tofu press, I was keen to re-create my all-time favourite tofu recipe, and the dish I order without fail every time I try a new Thai restaurant - vegan Pad Thai Noodles. Flat rice noodles, stir fried with beansprouts, tofu, chilli, spring onions and shallots, topped with peanuts, radish, fresh coriander and lime juice, with a 'sauce' of tamarind paste, sugar and a splash of vinegar. Sweet, sour and spicy - these are totally more-ish, tingling every single one of your taste buds with each forkful.
You can see above the really lovely texture of the tofu - crispy and spongy, soaking up all those lovely Thai flavours.
I've recommended in the recipe that you press and cook the tofu first, then prepare the vegetables and sauce whilst your noodles are soaking, so everything is ready to throw into the wok or pan for just a few minutes of fast and hot cooking time. Make sure the table is set to eat these immediately - these vegan pad thai noodles are at their very best served straight from the pan, with a fresh squeeze of lime juice.
Don't forget to pin the recipe for later, or to share with friends → → → → →
.Do send me pictures of your very own vegan pad thai noodles on:
to show me how you got on!
Vegan Pad Thai: Shopping List
You will need:
- Extra firm tofu
- Flat rice noodles
- Shallots
- Red chillis
- Beansprouts
- Spring onions
- Radishes
- Fresh coriander
- Limes
- Tamarind paste
- White wine vinegar
- Dry roasted peanuts
For a quick and easy Thai noodle dish, take a look at my Thai Green Curry Noodles, Quorn Pieces Thai Curry or creamy Satay Noodles with chestnut mushrooms.
📖 Recipe
Ultimate Vegan Pad Thai
Ingredients
- 150 g extra firm tofu (usually found in the dairy aisle in supermarkets)
- coconut or rapeseed oil for shallow frying
- 200 g flat rice noodles
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 red chillis, deseeded and finely sliced
- 50 g beansprouts
- 2 spring onions, diagonally sliced
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon tamarind paste
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon boiling water
- 2 radishes, grated or julienne chopped
- 50 g dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- juice of 2 limes
Instructions
- Press and drain the tofu for 10-15 minutes until a good amount of liquid has been released. Slice into half-centimetre thick slices, then cut each slice in half diagonally to form triangles. Lay out on your chopping board and pat dry with kitchen paper.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok, (enough to completely cover the bottom of the pan), and when hot, add the tofu slices in batches and cook on both sides until crispy and golden brown. Remove onto a plate covered with kitchen paper, and set aside until needed.
- Cook the noodles according to packet instructions - usually soaking in boiling water for c.10 minutes. Whilst they are soaking, prepare all the vegetables.
- Prepare the sauce by whisking together the honey/sugar, tamarind paste, vinegar and boiling water in a small jug. Set aside.
- In the frying pan, heat a little oil and add the shallots and chillis, and cook for 2 minutes until starting to soften. Add the spring onions and beansprouts and cook for a further minute.
- Add the noodles and tofu to the pan and cook for a further minute or two until they are piping hot. Pour over the sauce and mix to completely coat the noodles.
- Divide the noodles between plates, and scatter with coriander, peanuts and radishes, then squeeze the juice of half a lime over each serving.
Nutrition
There are plenty of similarly quick and easy recipes in my new book, 'Vegan in 15'*. Hop over to Amazon for a look. Thanks for your support!
*Affiliate links
And if you haven't yet signed up, you can get a monthly roundup of all my recipes and giveaways delivered to your inbox absolutely free - just click here to subscribe to The Veg Space monthly newsletter.
.
.
.
.
.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by EZ Tofu Press, who are also providing the giveaway prize. All opinions are my own. The EZ Tofu Press is available from Amazon UK for £35.00 (free delivery).
Choclette says
This sounds gorgeous. I don't think I've every actually had Pad Thai before, something that clearly needs to be remedied. Love the photo of the ingredients all spread out on the board. As for a tofu press, I only realised there was such a thing when I saw Cathy's post the other day. It looks like something well worth having.
Karl Borowy says
LOVE THE GREAT PRIZE
Karen Nagle says
This is brilliant! I've recently become a vegan and am learning about new recipes including ones using tofu. This would be a great prize.
Kim M says
Would love to try
Angela McDonald says
This is so unique!! Great idea though!
Paula Readings says
What a great giveaway, very useful.
Isabella says
This looks like such a fresh and delicious recipe, I don't often cook with tofu - need to try this out!
Maxine G says
Brilliant idea, much better than balancing weights and cans on top of tofu blocks!
sandi green says
This is a great idea, amount of times I have had things unbalance whilst pressing tofu, bang crash stuff on kitchen floor. Love the idea of using tofu in a pad Thai too.
Sophie Williams says
i'd love this - can never get m tofu consistency right
Charmian Filewood says
I didnt even know it existed!!
Diana says
The Tofu press looks great! And the recipes looks amazing too, very colourful and healthy 🙂 Pinned to try later!
thevegspace says
Thanks Diana! x
laura banks says
what a fab gizmo
winnie says
fantastic prize!
Lizanne Cusens says
Have been looking for a vegetarian Pad Thai recipe for ages that isn't over complicated with ingredients difficult to get hold of. This looks simple and delicious! Cant wait to try it out
thevegspace says
Thanks Lizanne - hope you enjoy it! x
Lucy @ BakingQueen74 says
That looks amazing, so fresh and bright with all of those colours! The tofu press looks great too - recipe now on my list for MeatFree Monday!
thevegspace says
Thanks Lucy! Hope you enjoy it x
aaron broad says
Meal looks yummy
Deborah ShireGardener says
I certainly could have used a Tofu Press instead of having a heavy Kilner full of lentils slip and break all over the floor! Thank you for the review and for the opportunity.
Alison says
I love Pad Thai from restaurants but I have never tried to make it at home. I will definitely be trying this recipe it looks amazing x
Tracy Nixon says
Thank you so much for the great review and giveaway!