May Week 3: Vegan Pad Thai

This was probably the most disappointing dish to come out of Thug Kitchen’s cookbook so far. The scramble gave me higher hopes, but they were struck down by the sweet sauce for this recipe. That said, I think there are some things about this recipe that are redeeming qualities, namely techniques that can be learned when you follow through.

Dry frying and pressing tofu are discussed as part of this recipe, so it is a good guide for treatment of the product. Tofu is absolutely intimidating the first time you unwrap that block of soybean curd. Thug Kitchen has a good way of disarming the vegan jargon into something the average person can understand and feel comfortable working with. It also helped me clean out my fridge of vegetables I use in other recipes throughout the week, and that’s something I find that almost every recipe in this book is good for doing.

Still, the sauce itself remains a problem for me. I am wary of the brown sugar whenever it comes up in a savory meal, and I will hold it at fault for my feelings on this recipe. The sweet sauce just was not tasty on the noodles or the vegetables. My husband really liked it, all but the thin rice noodles I choose at the grocery store. The choice of maifun probably did not help my chances of enjoying this recipe, to be honest.

Oh well. At least it was pretty.

Rating:

• Chef: Maybe once more with a different noodle
  
• Husband: Maybe do X*
  

*Translation: He thinks he’s chef now too

​

---