Pad Thai

This is based on a recipe Emily gave me (and showed me how to make) after she took a cooking class in Thailand or somewhere like that. I can't remember. Anyway, it's authentic, more or less. I messed around with the proportions, and the ones in this recipe are only an approximation of what I actually used.

Ingredients

• 1/2 block of tofu, cut into .5cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm blocks (or so).
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• some oil
  
• ~7oz 'rice stick noodle'
  
• 2T brown sugar
  
• 3T soy sauce
  
• 3T mushroom sauce ('vegetarian stir-fry sauce')
  
• water
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• 1/3c scallions, chopped
  
• limes, bean sprouts, and crushed peanuts to top
  

Heat a small amount of oil in a big pan (wok, if you have it) and add the garlic. After about 30 seconds or a minute, add the tofu and cook until the tofu is getting brown and crispy. Then add the egg and scramble. Once the egg is cooked, add the brown sugar, soy sauce, mushroom sauce, scallions, and noodles. toss those around a little, and then add about a cup of water. Stir around a little more, and then cover. The steam cooks the noodles. Stir the pot around periodically so things don't stick. If the pad thai ever looks like it's starting to get dry, add more water and re-cover. When the pasta is cooked through, adjust seasoning, add water and possibly more soy sauce, hot sauce (maybe sriracha, if you have any) and serve. Feeds about 3-4, depending on how hungry you are.

Thoughts: This went pretty well. Next time I'm thinking I'll add a little rice-wine vinegar or tamarind juice (or both), a little more brown sugar, a little fish sauce, and a little more water / soy sauce / stir fry sauce. The recipe works very nicely, it's just a matter of adjusting the seasoning to taste right.

Disaster Index: 1/10 - this is workable. Give it a shot.