Something weird happened. I made tofu and I liked it. I don’t like tofu. It’s always seemed to me like a punishment for not eating meat, a banishment from taste and texture. But not this time! It’s all very exciting.
Some context: my fridge-freezer has started humming loudly, every so often pausing to make a loud bang as if it’s trying to escape from the wall. I thought it was haunted before, when it did this to a far lesser degree, but if there is indeed a haunting that ghost is now very angry. Apparently the first stage in exorcising it is to defrost the whole thing, which means eating all that stuff I bought well-meaningly and then never used. Thus tofu. But don’t run away! It’s tasty.
Ingredients:
For the tofu:
396g pack of firm tofu
4 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp dried powdered ginger
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the noodles:
3 packets of fine noodles (4 for a big meal)
1 red pepper
250g fine beans
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Serves 4
Calories: 380
Takes 30 minutes to make, plus 30+ minutes for marinating
Stage one: Drain the tofu and cut it into bite-size pieces. Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, sugar and garlic until the sugar has dissolved, then put it in a bowl with the tofu and marinate for at least 30 minutes, giving it a stir half way through so all the tofu absorbs the flavour.
Stage two: Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan then remove the tofu from the marinade with a slotted spoon and fry for 10 minutes, flipping the tofu so that each side is browned. It won’t go particularly crispy, but it will be very tasty. When the tofu is done, remove it from the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet and drain.
Stage three: In a saucepan, fry the beans, pepper and 1 clove of garlic in the vegetable oil and 1 tbsp soy sauce for 5-10 minutes until they go soft. I left mine unattended for a couple of minutes and they caught slightly, but that’s okay, it gave them a hint of smokiness that I actually liked. What I’m getting at here is that this may all seem a bit complicated but if a bit goes wrong it doesn’t matter.
Stage four: Combine the vegetables and noodles in the pan and mix with the leftover marinade and the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar and mix well. Dish up into bowls and then serve the tofu on top. This works just as well cold as hot!
Sophie's Oven 