Vegetarian Pad Thai

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

8 oz. Pad Thai rice noodles (thin, flat linguini-like noodles)
2 eggs
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup purple onion, finely chopped
3-4 "heads" of baby bok choy, or other Chinese cabbage, roughly chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup ground peanuts or cashews
3-4 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable stock
lime wedges for serving

Pad Thai Sauce

3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste
1/4 cup hot water
3 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 to 2 tsp. chili sauce (to taste)
3 Tbsp. brown sugar


Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Soak noodles in the hot water for 6-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Noodles should be still firm and a bit "crunchy".

2. Dissolve the tamarind paste in the hot water. Add the other pad thai sauce ingredients and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Reserve.

3. Place your wok (or large frying pan) over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus the garlic and shallot. Stir-fry 1 minute. Add the bok choy plus the stock. Stir-fry 2 minutes.

4. Push ingredients aside and add 1/2 Tbsp. more oil to the center of the wok/pan. Add the eggs (if using) and stir-fry briefly to scramble them. Add the drained noodles and 1/3 of the sauce. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute using 2 utensils and a tossing motion (like tossing a salad).

5. Add a little more sauce and continue stir-frying in the same way for 1-2 more minutes, or until the noodles begin to soften and become sticky. Reduce heat to medium if noodles begin to stick and burn.

6. Add the bean sprouts plus the remaining sauce. Stir-fry to incorporate everything together for 1-3 more minutes, or until noodles are done. Noodles are cooked to perfection when they are soft but still deliciously chewy and a little bit sticky.

7. Remove from heat and taste-test, adding more soy sauce if desired for more salt/flavor.

8. To serve, scoop noodles onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with the green onion and ground nuts. Add wedges of fresh-cut lime on the side. Serve immediately and enjoy!


Source: http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetarianthairecipes/r/padthaiveg.htm