Basil Tofu Stirfry with Noodles: Meat Free Monday

I think everyone should have a basic stir fry recipe for those evenings when you just want something healthy but super quick and easy! I admit my “go to” stir fry recipe used to be a bag of mixed stir fry veg, a jar of sauce and some straight to wok noodles; now there’s nothing wrong with this, but its much cheaper and more rewarding to be able to throw it together from scratch

When I was cooking Tofu for the month of January as part of my first monthly challenges I got a better understanding of some basic ingredients used in Asian cooking. I also bought different types of tofu, although I didn’t get a chance to blog about a few of them! One of my favourites was Taifun’s ‘Basil Tofu’ which has a very savoury basil taste to it and also it is a very firm tofu, I never felt the need to press it which makes it an even quicker recipe.

The nice thing about a stir fry as well is you can always chop and change the ingredients to whatever is handy or needs using up. There are four elements – the vegetables, the protein, the sauce and the accompaniment (eg noodles/ rice). These can all be changed around and mixed up to make stirfrys more interesting.

This is a simple stirfry recipe so feel free to add things or jazz it up to your personal taste – that’s the whole fun of this kind of meal!

Serves 2

For the stirfry sauce:

1 tblspn Runny Honey
1 tblspn Mirin
1 tblspn Light Soy Sauce
1 inch Ginger (finely chopped or grated)
1 Garlic Clove (crushed)
1 Red Chilli (Finely sliced)
1/4 – 1/2 tblspn Water

To make the stirfry sauce simply mix everything together and put to one side. Make sure everything is mixed well and that the honey is not just sat at the bottom of the bowl. Also for the first three times I made this I kept adding a lot more water because it looked like it needed it but then I regretted it when I poured it onto the vegetables and it was soggy and diluted so resist the urge!

For the Stirfry:

200g Basil tofu
Vegetables – such as peppers, courgette, onion, mushrooms, bok choi, bean sprouts, finely sliced carrot, sugar snap peas, mushrooms etc
Noodles or rice (however much you like per person)
Stirfry oil such as sesame oil for frying

Ok the first thing I’d recommend when making this is to have everything prepared before you start cooking as it will be much easier. Slice all your vegetables and put to one side on a plate or in a big bowl. Also dice the tofu and put to one side.

Put your noodles in a pan and stick your kettle on to boil but wait untill you cook them as they typically take about 2-3 minutes to cook!

In a wok add a little oil and allow it to get really hot, then add the tofu and stirfry turning it reguarly untill browned on the outside. You  may need to do this in batches. Once cooked transfer the tofu to some kitchen towel and leave to one side.

Add a little more oil to the wok if it looks like it needs it and add all of the vegetables (I usually keep mushrooms out for 5 minutes before adding as they get soft very quickly). Stir the veg and when they look like they are nearly ready stick your noodles on to boil.

Once the vegetables are cooked pour over the sauce and cook for a further 1-2 minutes then turn the heat off. Drain the noodles.

Pile the noodles and vegetables into two bowls and then place the tofu on top! I often add extras like sesame seeds or sweet chilli sauce. It’s quite a big portion but its about 50% vegetables so who cares!

 

 

Sweet Marinated Tofu and Noodle Salad

From the last few recipes I’ve made I know that the key was to create a good balance of flavours. I think I have managed to do this with this recipe as there is a sweet marinade, hot fresh red chilli and a mix of steamed green veg and crunchy stirfried carrots!

This recipe is influenced by the Wagamamas tofu soup as I focused on the flavours used in the broth to help me work out a good balance for this dish. I also loved the idea of adding a crunchy element along with the soft tofu like they did with the carrot in the soup – I have done this on two different levels, with crunchy stirfried carrot and then also a topping of crushed peanuts.

The great thing about this recipe too is that you can add in any vegetables you fancy and make it seasonal. Also don’t panic by the long list of ingredients as most of it can be bought cheaply or will last a while. For example, slice your lemon up into wedges, squeeze the amount you need for the recipe and put the rest in the freezer to add to drinks with ice in the summer! Also when buying ginger, unless you use it alot you can always snap a piece off in the shop and only buy roughly what you need! My last piece of ginger cost 4p!

This salad is best served at ‘Room temperature’ but you could serve it hot too if preferred.

marinade ingredients:

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Garlic clove (crushed)
1 inch Ginger (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon Mirin (or rice vinegar)
Squeeze Lemon
1 teaspoon Honey
1 tablespoon Water

Marinate 150g Cubed/ Sliced Firm Tofu for atleast 2 hours but preferably over night.

Salad Ingredients:

120g Dried Egg Noodles
6 florets of Brocolli (sliced into smaller pieces)
80g Mangetout
80g Sugar Snap peas
6 spears of Asparagus
1 Carrot (Julienned)
1/2 Red Onion (diced)
1 Red Chilli (De-seeded and sliced)
Handful Toasted Peanuts (Crushed)
Handful Sesame seeds
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Toasted Sesame Oil for frying

Boil the dried egg noodles in a pan untill soft, then drain them in a colander and refresh them by running cold water through them.

In a pan steam the brocolli, Mangetout, Sugar snap Peas and asparagus for untill al dente, this can take around 4-5 minutes. Taste one after a while to see if it’s still too crunchy.

Take your tofu out of the marinade and pat it dry on some kitchen towel. Heat 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil in a wok or non stick pan untill really hot, then fry the tofu for 1-2 minutes on each side (you may need to do this in batches). Then place back on some kitchen towel untill needed.
Add the carrot, red onion and chilli and stirfry for 1-2 minutes untill softened but still with a bite!

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and using your hands gently combine them so that everything is mixed. Serve up and top with the peanuts, sesame seeds and Sweet Chilli Sauce.

I’ve really enjoyed my tofu journey! I’ve learnt how to prepare it, what to cook it with, how to cook it and how to store it! February brings a whole new challenge which I am going to focus on Polenta! This is an ingredient (like tofu) that I have never cooked with before and I’m not really sure what to expect. I’ve seen it on restaurant menu’s teamed with pork belly or mushroom ragu so I’m wondering if I can turn it from a side dish into a vegetarian main!

Tofu, Lettuce and Noodle Soup (Wagamama): Friday Challenge!

This is my first Friday challenge Post for 2012! If you want a recap on the idea behind this challenge please read here. I will be using techniques or ingredients unfamiliar to me and reviewing them in order to learn and get better at cooking! I chose tofu to begin with because I haven’t ever cooked it before and also I am unfamiliar cooking with Asian flavours so this was a great opportunity to learn. The extent of my chinese cooking skills extends to stirfries with a ready made sauce and straight to wok noodles…definitely room for improvement! I took the recipe from “Wagamama: Ways with noodles” by Hugo Arnold, which is available to buy online/ in book shops or in the restaurants.

I actually cooked this soup twice because the first time it went a little wrong, my tofu fell apart and also I under estimated the amount of time it would take to Julienne a whole carrot so everything burnt whilst I was carefully slicing away. Note to self, work on my knife skills!

The second time I drained my tofu really well and then patted it dry with kitchen paper so that it really firmed up. I also prepared all of my vegetables before beginning to make the soup. I think the learning points here were to prepare the tofu well before cooking, also to be gentle with it in the pan so it doesn’t crumble! It also helped to have really hot oil in the wok!

Being my first real time at trying to cook tofu I wasn’t sure what to expect but I am now a big fan and will definitely cook it more often. You can get all kinds of flavours such as chilli, basil or smoked. Plain tofu by itself doesn’t have a lot of flavour which is why I think it was perfect for this sort of dish which had salty soy, sharp mirin and lots of garlic! The flavour balance against the soft tofu was delicious.

The recipe called for the use of fish sauce so I went down to my local Chinese Supermarket and asked what could be used as a vegetarian alternative for the flavours (The man chuckled for a while and said “my daughter is also vegetarian but she eat fish sauce”. I think he thought I was being awkward!)- of course you will not match the flavour exactly but they gave me a sauce which is vegetarian and based on the flavours of oyster sauce. I don’t know how it compared to fish sauce but it was delicious!

This cook book has some lovely recipes in it and I would recommend buying it if you want to cook simple but delicious Asian meals. I think this recipe had a bit too many noodles (100g for two people) but as a main course I guess it would be really filling! I had it for dinner and then for lunch the next two days. All the ingredients were easily found in my local supermarket and there was nothing too exotic so it wasn’t expensive either- no excuses not to make more Asian food!.

What have I learnt about Tofu?
It is very delicate to handle but if you drain it and keep pressing it with kitchen towel then it does firm up well and it is easier to fry. Frying it gives it some texture however I have seen recipes where you just slice it and add it to the soup for a more silky texture!

I think it’s a good ingredient to balance out flavours and to add a bit more substance to a meal. It wouldn’t taste nice just by itself it definitely needs a kick!

I also learnt that creating a basic Asian soup is not as hard as it looks (I’m sure there is an art to it with more complex recipes), it’s all about balance of flavours! I was happy to see that the base of the soup was vegetable stock and then soya sauce, garlic, mirin and my veggie “fish sauce” was added to give it that oriental edge. I definitely feel more confident to experiment with broths and soups using different flavours of tofu too!

With week one of my tofu challenge complete my mind is filled with ideas for my own recipe! Next week I’m going to cook a tofu omelette with a chinese inspired sauce….sounds interesting…