Some of my favorite weeknight dinners are simple stir fried dishes. This version came about simply with ingredients I had in my fridge, combined with my love for singapore noodles. With garlic, ginger and turmeric as base flavors, this stir fried noodle is a great way to incorporate tofu into your meals.
Ingredients
8 oz rice noodles (approx.220 grams)
1 large red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
2″ piece ginger, peeled
5 cloves garlic, peeled
5 indian green chillies (makes this dish spicy. substitute with serrano to make it mild or feel free to leave out chillies all together)
3/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
4 cups fresh baby spinach, washed
2 cups sweet corn (I used frozen, can be substituted with fresh)
14 oz extra firm tofu (you could also used super firm tofu)
handful of fresh cilantro, washed and chopped
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil
Method
Cube the fresh tofu into 1″ pieces and place between dry towels and gently squeeze any excess moisture out. Make sure you don’t break the pieces.
In a pan heat one tbsp canola oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tofu to the hot oil. Make sure you stand away and drop the pieces in gently, facing away from your body. There will be some spluttering. Let cook for 3 minutes. Gently move the tofu around and get an even light brown on them. Remove the tofu onto a paper towel using a slotted spoon and let them rest.
Add the remaining tbsp of oil to the leftover oil in the pan and heat over medium heat. Finely chop ginger, garlic and chillies together. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric powders to the oil and fry for 20 seconds and then add the chopped garlic, ginger and chillies. Fry over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add thinly sliced red onions and saute for 7-8 minutes until the onions are cooked and start slightly browning. Add 4 cups of spinach along with a tsp of salt. Mix well and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. The spinach will wilt and give out a bit of water which should help you scrap any spices in the bottom of the pan and create a unified aromatic base for our noodles.
Add the frozen corn with the remaining tsp of salt, mix well and cook covered for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Uncover, increase the heat and cook another 5 minutes. Add the pre-sauteed tofu to the corn mixture and toss together gently. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes which will allow the tofu to soak in all the flavors of the vegetables and spices. Add almost all of the chopped cilantro with a little saved to add just before serving and turn of the heat.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add a few drops of oil to the water and then drop the rice noodles in it. The oil will keep the noodles from sticking to each other when cooked and drained. Cook the noodles according to your package instructions. Mine took just about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles, let sit for a minute to make sure all the water is drained.
Add the noodles to the vegetable-tofu mixture and toss together gently. Use tongs to separate the noodles and mix well to make sure all the spices, vegetables and color mix evenly.
Sprinkle the reserved fresh cilantro on top and serve warm.
2 comments
I love the blog’s new look… and the fact that you’re back at it!
Thank you 🙂