Friday 16 May 2014

Wednesday Weekly: Broccolini Pad Thai

It's a hat trick of late Wednesday Weekly posts, hooray! The next few weeks are going to be absolutely hectic with assignments and papers to write, and the pressure is starting to mount, so I've really been looking for recipes which are (relatively) quick, easy and, of course, delicious! I've also added an extra requirement to the food I've been looking for, and that's that they be vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I love my meat, but I want to branch out with my eating -- seriously, how many times can I make stir fry or curry before I start to get sick of it?

For this reason, I opted for pad Thai this week. It was an odd decision to make -- I made it once before and absolutely hated it. It had a saltiness to it not unlike the Pacific Ocean and so I only realised while preparing this recipe that my dislike of pad Thai could make this backfire all over again. As it happens, this recipe is very easy!


 
  This is literally all you need. Easy, isn't it? Of course, I made double, so you'll need even less.


The first thing you want to do is chop your vegies. You can't see the carrots because they're underneath aaaaall that broccolini! Make sure that the onions are in a separate bowl to the carrots and broccolini, because they'll be cooked separately.


Noodles and hot water! This is rather self-explanatory. My supermarket didn't have any Thai flat noodles on the shelf, so I went for the fat Hokkien noodles instead. I was worried initially that this was a little too much, as whenever I've made stir fry I only used one pouch (this is four), however given that this pad Thai doesn't have any meat, you need to bulk it up this way.

Sauté that onion in some peanut oil!
Chuck in the carrot and broccolini.
Then add the pad Thai paste. I don't know what's in it, and I'll never want to.
Whisk them eggs good!
 
This was the trickiest part. You need to make a well in the vegie mix and add the eggs in the middle of the wok so that it kind of cooks a bit like an omelette. Mine took a while to cook, however I think that this is simply because I had four eggs instead of two. Perhaps next time I'll do a bit at a time, or make the well bigger.
 
Drain the noodles while the egg is cooking.
The finished product!
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it when I dished up for the family, but I think it looks really good either way! This recipe was originally published in the September 2013 issues of Super Food Ideas, but I took it from the Taste website. Will I make this again? I definitely will. Did it look like the picture? Not really, but I don't really think it matters in this case. The dish was tasty -- nowhere near as salty as the first one I made.
 
As always here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
  • The original recipe calls for one carrot. Even though I made a double batch, I used four carrots because they were puny pathetic excuses for vegetables and that was all we had.
  • I used three bunches of broccolini instead of four, which I ought to have done if I strictly doubled everything. I think those three bunches were enough.
  • It's no secret that I'm not a fan of onion, so I didn't bother doubling it.
  • Don't be confused by "Valcom pad Thai paste". Valcom is merely the brand name, and I'm not sure how widely available it is internationally, so just use whichever brand you like.

Broccolini Pad Thai

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 440g packet shelf-fresh Thai flat rice noodles
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 brown onion, finely chopped
  • 2 bunches broccolini, trimmed, cut into 3cm lengths
  • 1 carrot, halved, thinly sliced diagonally
  • 240g jar Valcom pad Thai paste
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Method

  1. Place noodles in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for two minutes. Gently separate noodles. Drain.
  2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil. Swirl to coat. Add onion. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until tender. Add broccolini and carrot. Stir-fry for 4 minutes or until almost tender. Add paste. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
  3. Make a well in the centre of vegetables. Add egg. Cook for 1 minute or until set. Add noodles to wok. Stir-fry mixture for 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through, breaking up egg. Serve.
Would you make this pad Thai? Do you have any variations?
 
Sarah xo



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