Curried Tofu and Brown Rice Noodle Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 8oz brown rice noodles, uncooked
- 8oz, extra firm tofu, cubed
- Coconut oil, 1 tablespoon
- 2 scallions, sliced
- one medium sized mild green chile, chopped finely
- one bell pepper, sliced
- 4oz Oyster mushroom, sliced
- Red Curry Paste, 2 tablespoons
- Sauce:
- Low Sodium soy sauce (or Tamari for gluten free), 3 tablespoons
- Maple syrup, 2 tablespoons
- sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
- lime juice, 2 tablespoons
- crushed or minced garlic, 3 tablespoons
- minced ginger, 1 tablespoon
Instructions
- Cook rice noodles according to instructions provided on food package (usually soaking in hot water then rinsing in cold water while draining).
- While noodles cook, press tofu on paper towel to remove excess moisture and set aside.
- Prepare sauce before stir frying the produce to prevent overcooking as the food items cook quickly on such a high heat. Place sauce ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Feel free to add more or deduct ingredients based on your taste preference for the sauce. Set aside.
- For the tofu, heat the oil on medium high heat and sautee the tofu until golden (about 5 minutes).
- Remove the tofu and set aside. Add in the vegetables, mushrooms, and curry paste to the wok or pan. Saute until tender and curry spice becomes aromatic, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add in the noodles, tofu, and sauce that are set aside and cook for a minute to coat and mix.
- Remove from heat and serve.
- Additional lime juice and scallions on top is optional.
Every weekend after doing my long run workout, I always crave Thai food stir fry for my takeout dinner treat; I finally decided to tackle the secret to delicious stir fry noodles and rice. Asian cooking is such a mystery to me with the exotic spices and flavors out there, and I wanted to explore how to create a healthier version at home.
According to cooksmarts.com, the basics for this Chinese style of cooking simply includes: a protein, aromatics (such as garlic and ginger), vegetables, and your sauce. I found this website incredibly helpful for building your stir-fry foundation, including different varieties of stir fry dishes.
The sauce is really based on your taste preference and creating your own ratio of the following ingredients: soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, and cornstarch (for thickening). I completely improvised mine since I did not have cornstarch and rice wine vinegar. I decided to swap lime juice (as used in many Thai dishes) for the vinegar and maple syrup for the brown sugar to give its sweetness in the sauce (and no, I am not trying to reenact the scenes from Elf even though I absolutely love that movie). By watching the sodium, I used low sodium soy sauce and to make the sauce gluten free, I would use Tamari in place of the soy sauce.
Organization is Key in Stir Fry
The key to the stir-fry cooking method is preparation. Make sure you have all of the produce readily chopped or sliced before throwing it in the wok/pan or else you will end up with an overcooked meal. The sauce was very quick to make, so I did quickly whip this together while the vegetables were cooking.
The rice noodles are very easy to make and can be done while sautéing the produce. Most packages instruct you to soak the noodles in hot water as the cooking method, and then drain and rinse under cold water to separate.
In this recipe, the first step after preparing everything was to saute the protein and then remove from heat and set aside; this prevents overcooking. Next, add in the vegetables and aromatics (ginger, garlic, etc); I chose to use curry paste with the vegetables to give them a little heat and flavor. The recipe for Vegan Singapore Noodles by Minimalist Baker (one of my favorite blogs) gave me this inspiration for the curry addition. After sautéing your protein and veggies you'll want to add in the noodles and sauce at the end and let it cook for a little longer to mix evenly. This dish took less than a half hour to make and can be agreat weeknight meal for its easy prep and fast cooking time!
