Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry, Pad Thai Style
I’ve called my Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry Pad Thai-style because its flavouring is very similar to the Thai original. But the big difference is that instead of the traditional rice noodles, I use thin julienned vegetables like courgette and carrot. Not only does this taste great, but you’ll get another two portions of your minimum five a day fruit & veg too.
PAD THAI STYLE
As Pad Thai is basically a stir-fried rice noodle dish, you may well think it rather perverse of me to make a version without said noodles. To be honest, I agree with you. That’s why I’ve called it Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry, Pad Thai Style.
While I’ve nothing against traditional noodles, they can be a little stodgy. And with so many of us still failing to eat even the daily recommended minimum of five portions of fruit and veg, it doesn’t hurt to slip in a couple more here and there. In fact, this dish should provide around three to four portions of veg per person. Anyway, vegetable noodles also happen to taste very good.
Another way I’ve diverted from pad thai is in my use of eggs. Traditionally, the eggs are stirred through the cooked ingredients in a sort of scramble. However, I prefer to make an Thai-style omelette (eggs, soy sauce, black pepper and chopped coriander), slice it, and add to the stir fry.
VEGETABLE NOODLE STIR FRY
If you’ve got a spiralizer then by all means use that to make your vegetable noodles. However, I really don’t have room for one in my already over-filled kitchen cupboards so prefer my cheap and cheerful (and deadly sharp) julienne peeler. In this stir fry, I used it to make thin strands of courgette and carrot.
I’ve also included multicoloured peppers, onions and broccoli, all sliced thinly. But use whatever vegetables you like or happen to have in the fridge. Just cut them into an appropriate size so they all cook in approximately the same amount of time. The aromatics are fresh garlic, ginger and chillies.
Tip: keep ginger root in the freezer for optimal freshness with no waste. To use, scrape away some of the brown papery skin then just finely grate as much as you need. Pop the rest back in the freezer.
You can keep the Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry completely vegetarian, perhaps adding some tofu if you like. I sometimes include prawns, but this dish is also a good way of using up small amounts of leftover meat. In this case we had a little roast pork in the freezer so I sliced it up and browned that first.
To flavour the dish, I whisked together fish sauce (you could use soy instead), rice wine vinegar, sugar and sriracha chilli sauce. Replace the latter two with sweet chilli sauce if you prefer.
SERVING VEGETABLE NOODLE STIR FRY
I love my Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry with lots of crunchy peanuts and tasty toasted coconut on top. Plenty of chopped coriander leaf adds freshness, as well as a couple of lime wedges to squeeze over.
I think this makes a great, one pan dish. If you prepare all your ingredients in advance, then it’s really quick to put together at the last minute too.
Satisfying, full of flavour and with contrasting textures, I really don’t think you’ll miss those rice noodles.
Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry, Pad Thai Style
All the flavour of traditional Pad Thai, but with vegetables like courgette, peppers and carrot instead of rice noodles. Not only does it taste great, but it'll provide 3 -4 portions per person of your minimum five a day fruit & veg.
Ingredients
For the omelette
- 0.5 tbsp oil, e.g. sunflower, coconut
- 2 large eggs
- 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
- to taste black pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- to taste sriracha sauce
- to taste sugar optional
- to taste sweet chilli sauce optional
For the stir fry
- 1 tbsp oil e.g. sunflower, coconut
- 150 g leftover meat e.g. roast pork, beef (optional) in thin strips
- 1 large carrot julienned or spiralized
- 1 large courgette julienned or spiralized
- 1 small red pepper in thin strips
- 1 small yellow pepper in thin strips
- 1 small green pepper in thin strips
- 1 medium red onion peeled, halved, thinly sliced
- Half small head broccoli cut into florets & thinly sliced
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 cloves garlic grated or finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger grated or finely chopped
- 1-2 hot chillies deseeded, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
To serve
- 1 tbsp desiccated coconut toasted
- 2 tbsp peanuts toasted
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander
- lime wedges
Instructions
For the omelette
-
Put the oil in a small frying pan and heat to moderate.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the soy sauce, black pepper and coriander
-
When the oil is hot, pour in the egg mixture and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook until it's set and lightly browned underneath (2-3 min), then flip and cook the other side (1-2 min).
-
Transfer the omelette to a board and when cool enough to handle cut into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
For the sauce
-
Whisk together all the ingredients, adjusting amounts to suit your own taste. Set aside.
For the stir fry
-
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan.
-
If including the leftover meat, add it to the wok and stir fry until browned. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the wok and set it aside.
-
Add all the prepared vegetables to the wok, season with a little salt and a good grind of black pepper then stir well.
-
Stir fry over moderate to high heat until the vegetables are starting to soften (4 -7 min).
-
Stir in the garlic, ginger and chillies and continue to stir fry for a further 2 min.
-
Stir in the prepared sauce and also the browned meat if using. Cook over a high heat for 3 min.
-
Stir in the omelette and coriander. Continue to stir fry until everything is piping hot (2-5 min).
-
Divide the stir fry between 2 bowls and top with the toasted coconut, peanuts & more chopped coriander.
Serve immediately with lime wedges to squeeze over plus more hot sriracha or sweet chilli sauce if liked.