Confession: Every meal with pad thai on this blog has been made from some sort of a box/kit, the sauce likely full of ingredients I can't pronounce and squeezed out of a silvery, plastic packet. But that changes now, with the discovery of this recipe.
The hardest part was finding the rice noodles at the grocery store; a task I made more complicated than necessary by assuming they would be lying on the shelf in a plastic bag, rather than standing up in a box. Hope this tip helps someone else avoid multiple trips down the import foods aisle.
I also kept it vegetarian, eschewing chicken and shrimp for some pan-seared tofu, seasoned with salt, pepper and a little paprika.
In typical fashion, I added vegetables until the whole dish threatened to overflow onto the stove...
...which it pretty much did with the addition of the tofu and garnishes.
I carefully scooped some onto a plate, squeezed some lime juice on top (don't skip this step!) and ate.
I was quite pleased with my first foray into homemade pad thai; it tasted like I expected and made great leftovers. Two really good things, as I have a 1/2 box of rice noodles and 3/4 bottle of fish sauce lingering in the cupboard.
