Vegetarian Stir Fry with Tofu and Noodles

Since me n DH have been traveling and eating (too much) meat, both he and I were in the mood for something lighter and when I suggested vegetarian, he said, go for it! So I moseyed over to our supermarket (remember the days when tofu was only sold in health food stores?) and picked up some baby corn and extra firm tofu. I won’t lie, there’s work to be done with a stir fry, ya gotta slice up your veggies but the truth is, the prep takes a bit of time but the actual cooking goes very quickly. So gather your ingredients and let’s get cracking!

Sorry, by mistake I have teriyaki sauce in there (not used in this recipe) and skipped the onion powder which IS in there. Small oops, bear with me.

Don’t let the seemingly large number of ingredients put you off. For the sauce, you are really just mixing the whole lot together and cooking it in the pan with the rest of the ingredients, so it’s one pan cooking. For my own ease of prep, I sort the veggies into separate bowls (you can just leave it on your cutting board in piles if you prefer) but there’s method to this madness. You want to stir fry the harder vegetables first, i.e. the carrots and peppers before the mushrooms. Also, since the baby corn is basically completely cooked by the canning process, you toss them in last. Okay, so start by taking the firm tofu and slicing like so:

A note. Since your tofu is the protein in the dish, you can either use up the whole amount (here it comes in a block of 300 grams, approximately 10.5 ounces) or save half for another time or the hot and sour soup I’m gonna post soon. As you like. Now slice again into chunks like this

Now place the chunks into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and toss and set aside. By the time you throw it into the stir fry most if not all the soy sauce will absorb into the tofu chunks, that’s as should be. K. Onward.

Next, stir up your sauce. The idea here is that you want everything ready to go once the vegetables are partially cooked since the idea is that it won’t be limp and overcooked, G-d forbid. Now I didn’t have broth to hand so I cheated and used a tablespoon of vegetarian “chicken” soup powder in some water and stirred in a bowl with soy sauce, sesame oil, crushed garlic, onion powder, ground frozen ginger (or fresh), salt, black pepper and honey and stir well till thoroughly combined. Set aside. You will add the cornstarch to this sauce but only just before using.

Bring a pot of water to the low boil with a pinch of salt and bit of oil to be ready for the stir fry/curly noodles. You will toss them in in between stirring the veggies. This way you don’t have to wait till it comes to the boil.

Now you are ready to stir fry your veggies. So take a non-stick pan (preferably) add 2 tablespoons of oil and start stir frying (simply mix and stir and keep going, like sauteeing) first the carrots and peppers.

Stir stir stir and then add the mushrooms. I gotta tell you, me n DH are kinda obsessed with mushrooms so I use a lot- basically you can add more carrot or pepper, add or subtract some mushrooms, as you will.

Stir stir stir, remember you are not cooking the veggies down, you want them to be al dente for lack of a better term. As soon as the mushrooms looked lightly cooked add your cut up baby corn and tofu.

This is your moment to add the cornstarch into the sauce (not directly into the stir fry) and make sure it incorporate and doesn’t do that sludgy thing at the bottom of the bowl, just scrape the bottom of the bowl and stir well and now pour over the lot in the frying pan. While this is going on, bring water to the full boil and boil your curly/stir fry noodles according to package directions and drain. Your stir fry should be mostly done and the sauce thickened.

Add the noodles right on top of the stir fry.

And I find it easiest to combine it all by using two large spoons and tossing it all together.

Top with toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions. It’s fabulous and I served this two times in a row in one week and the various and sundry company clamored for more. Not a noodle or veg left.

Vegetarian Stir Fry with Tofu and Noodles

150 grams extra firm tofu

1-2 tablespoons soy sauce

Sauce:

1/3 cup water or broth or water mixed with 1 tablespoon vegetarian chicken soup powder

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil, toasted

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons ground frozen ginger (or fresh)

2 teaspoons salt

Pinch black pepper

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Veg:

2-3 tablespoons canola oil

3 cups cleaned and sliced mushrooms

1 large red bell pepper

1 can baby corn, drained and cut into small pieces

2 large carrots , peeled and sliced into matchstick pieces

2 squares curly or stir fry noodles (uncooked)

Garnish:

2 scallions cleaned and chopped

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

Cube the tofu and place in a bowl with the soy sauce. Toss together and set aside. It will mostly or completely absorb the soy sauce (and darken in color somewhat).

Prepare the sauce by mixing together in a bowl the soy sauce, sesame oil, crushed garlic, onion powder, ground frozen ginger (or fresh), salt, black pepper and honey and stir well till thoroughly combined. You will add the cornstarch just before pouring over the stir fry. Set aside.

Bring a pot of water to the low boil with a bit of salt and oil in it, waiting for the noodles to go in.

In a frying pan (preferably non-stick) place the oil and start by stir frying the carrot and red pepper. After 2 minutes, add the mushrooms and continue stir frying, add the chopped baby corn and tofu stir fry a few more minutes and then stir in the cornstarch into the patiently waiting sauce ingredients and stir till smooth and no sludginess on the bottom of the bowl. Pour over the tofu mixture in the pan and toss till it thickens somewhat. Drain your noodles (keep an eye on them, they need only 3-4 minutes of cooking time) and toss with two big heatproof spoons with the veggies and sauce till everything’s mixed together. Either serve in a big bowl sprinkled with the sesame seeds and the scallions, or plate individually, as you like.