Ingredients
½ Package of Firm or extra firm tofu (diced into 1 inch cubes)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups broccoli florets
2 tbs diced garlic
1 tsp diced ginger
½ tsp of Chinese five spice
½ tsp of red pepper flakes
1 Green pepper (diced)
1 Red pepper ( Diced)
3 eggs scrambled
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs sesame oil
¼ cup creamy peanut butter or nut butter
1 small package of rice noodles (or thin spaghetti noodles)
Vegetable oil
Directions:
Using a small bowl, mix fish sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and peanut butter together. Set aside.
Begin cooking noodles according to package instructions, or soak rice noodles as directed in a bowl of water.
In a pan on medium high, add a small amount of vegetable oil, sprinkle tofu bits with five spice and sauté until golden brown on each side. Remove from pan and set aside.
In same pan, add additional veg oil and sauté onions, garlic, ginger, and diced peppers approx. 4 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.
Blanche broccoli 2 mins in boiling water, remove and set aside.
Crank the heat up to high and add sauce to the pan. Add noodles, tofu, scrambled egg and all vegetables. Sauté on high heat 2-3 mins stirring frequently until everything is coated with sauce and heated through. Remove from heat, plate and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Serve hot.
Variations – You can add additional veggies with the onions and broccoli or replace those vegetables with others such as mushrooms, carrots, soybeans, cabbage, etc. You can also sub the tofu and add chicken, shrimp or beef, just precook the meat and add in as you would during final cooking.
The Story:
I was inspired by my son’s pad tai recipe from https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/pad-thai/ This is certainly a different version as I had leftover broccoli to use and wanted to make it primarily vegetarian. In addition, I didn’t have any rice noodles as I had used them all up in my Vietnamese spring rolls a few weeks ago. The current state of grocery stores means no more rice noodles for a while! Overall this had a nice flavor, even with the spaghetti noodles and came out with a nice spice. It’s also high protein and pretty healthy!