I’ve been making this cabbage pad Thai-ish in some form or another since the late fall, when I spotted the recipe in Andie Mitchell’s Eating in the Middle, and the contents of my CSA miraculously included all of the key ingredients: cabbage, peppers, cilantro, and onions. With peppers now out of season, I’ve been using shiitake mushrooms, whose meaty texture and woodsy flavor nicely complement the cabbage, and I imagine a number of other vegetables—julienned carrots, shredded Brussels sprouts or broccoli, for example—could also be used. In place of the traditional scrambled egg, the texture of which I never seem to get right, I’ve been baking cubes of tofu, dressed simply with soy sauce and oil, and folding those in at the end. Two notes: There are no noodles! And no tamarind! So no, this is not authentic pad Thai. Here, sugar and lime juice in the stir-fry sauce stand in for tamarind, whose fruity, tart flavor lends that sweet-and-sourness characteristic of traditional pad Thai. This dish comes together quickly, and while the vegetables and seasonings may be unorthodox, the combination is tasty and satisfying. PS: Other favorite cabbage recipes.
5 from 5 reviews
