☼ TL;DR / RECIPE
(serves 2, at least in my house)
INGREDIENTS
☼ Stir Fry:
- 3 large or 4 medium zucchini, cut into “noodles” with a spiralizer
- 1 red bell pepper or 2-3 chili peppers (seeded to spice preference), diced
- 1/2 a large, white onion, diced
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp avocado, peanut, or other high-heat cooking oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
☼ Sauce and Toppings:
- 4-5 tbsp creamy peanut butter (*love hippie peanut butter, but for this recipe, use a stabilized/“no stir” brand. Also, this does taste good, if different, with almond butter.)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha sauce (or more to taste)
- 2 tsp agave nectar
- lime wedges (2 per person)
- roasted peanuts (handful per person)
- fresh cilantro or basil (optional)
METHOD:
- In a large pan or pot with a lid, heat the oil on medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and pepper and sauté until the onion is just translucent.
- Add the zucchini noodles to the pan and coat the vegetables evenly with the garlic powder. Stir in the first 1 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the zoodles have released most of their liquid — tender but not mushy.
- While the zoodles cook, in a separate bowl, mix together the peanut butter, rice vinegar, remaining soy sauce, sriracha, and agave into a rich, thick sauce.
- DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP: Very carefully drain the liquid from the zoodle mixture (I like to tip the pan into the sink with the lid on and shifted back, letting the liquid escape through a 1/8 - 1/4 inch opening; you can use a very clean tea towel to absorb any that remains).
- Rest the pan on an unheated eye on the stove and mix in the sauce. Finish with squeezes of lime juice. Serve with peanuts, cilantro, and love.
☼ The chit-chat…
Fair warning, this dish does not much resemble pad Thai; I’ve tried to think of another name, and the best I could come up with is “peanutty zoodles.” However, “peanutty zoodles” isn’t recognizable, doesn’t accurately reflect the savory/tangy/spicy/sweet flavor, nor is it actually what we call it at home. So, Zoodle Pad Thai it is. I hope you will kindly forgive this, and try it anyway.
Gratitude to our sweet friend, Demelza, for serving the dish that inspired this recipe at a St. Croix dinner party in 2015. Four years later, and this is the most-requested meal in my household. The recipe — now only very loosely originating in a blog post that I’ve long since lost track of — has been shifted and tweaked over time, gradually taking on its own personality, until this iteration, perfected to our particular palates, came to be. I hope you love it as we do.
With love,
☼ VLGL
