Tuesday 19 August 2014

Yasai Itameru (Stir-fried tofu in coconut noodles)

I went back to the Wagamama cookbook for this one, and it wasn't half bad. I think the recipes still lack focus, having too many different kinds of vegetables, and the quantities are all over the place. However the sauce was very tasty, if a little rich. I also think it's silly to try to stir fry tofu at the same time as your vegetables: you can get a nice crispy skin if you do them separately, as shown in the photo. I'm posting my amended recipe rather than their original.

Ingredients
For the sauce

  • 1 garlic clove
  • a thumb of ginger
  • two lemongrass sticks
  • 100ml hot water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp sugar
  • 100g in of coconut milk or cream (depending on how fat you feel)
For the stir-fry

  • 75g rice noodles
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 red onion
  • a bunch of Chinese vegetables, like pak choi
  • 50g sweet potato (about an inch from the middle)
  • 200g firm tofu, cut into cubes
  • a bunch of fresh coriander
  • juice of half a lime (or lemon)
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
Crush the garlic, peel and grate the ginger, and finely shred the lemongrass. Cook in a small saucepan in the hot water until the garlic has softened. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook gently for a few minutes, but don't let it boil or the coconut milk can separate.

Cook the noodles according to their packet instructions. Peel and (if you like) deseed the chilli, then finely chop. Finely slice the red onion. Julienne the sweet potato. Clean and separate the pak choi. Stir fry the sweet potato and red onion until becoming tender, then add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry until just barely cooked, then remove from the pan to free it up for the tofu. Stir fry the tofu until golden and crispy, then return the vegetables to the pan and squeeze over the lime juice and soy sauce. Combine the noodles with the coconut sauce, and serve the vegetables over the top of them, topped with the coriander and a lemon or lime segment.

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