Marinated Tofu Noodles

I haven’t posted for a while and a lot has happened. I’ve always been disastrous at keeping diaries and documenting things, so I am amazed I even still have a desire to keep posting here. My hands and heart are so closely tied to food and cooking though, that I’m not sure I can fully abandon this project yet. Not only am I bad at documenting my life through writing, but also through pictures. In the moment, something in my brain will shout “take a photo!” and then another part of my brain says “just enjoy this moment without running to get a camera.” I want to enjoy the present so much that I forget I may want to preserve my present to share with others. It’s a constant battle. All this to say that I have no photo of these Asian noodles at present. But I’m posting it anyways because it was a delicious recipe that I came up with from the odds and ends left in the fridge.

Since I last posted, my husband and I bought our first home. I have always been very anti-home owning because I loved the idea of just picking up and going when I want and having less of a hassle. I still think there are a lot of benefits to not owning a home and will never be a person who tries to convince others of home owning, but I have to say, I am pretty happy with my own 2K feet of heaven. Lately, I just feel so blessed and so grateful for all of the good in my life.

The new house. It’s not the best photo, but it’s what I got!

Many celebrations have gone on in the past few months, and I only have photos for some (I need to take more photos dammit!). We celebrated Easter, Holi, Mother’s Day, and my grandmother’s 90th birthday.

Marinated Tofu Noodles

Ingredients:

8 ounces asian noodles (I used noodles called “Somen” but rice noodles or ramen or any variety works) cooked according to package directions
1 bell pepper, sliced thinly in long strips
2 medium carrots, sliced like matchsticks
8 green onions, white parts sliced into large 1 inch chunks, green tops chopped finely
1 package tofu (I used sprouted tofu from Trader Joe’s, and did not hold together all that well. I would suggest using a firmer variety).
2 inch knob of ginger, peeled and sliced finely into matchsticks
3 thai chilies, chopped small (use less or more depending on your desired spice)
3 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp mirin
5-6 tbsp soy sauce
5-6 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp gochujang (this is a Korean sauce, if you don’t have it, skip it or use siracha in place)
1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 lime
chopped peanuts for garnish
chopped cilantro

Directions:

Slice the tofu into thick cubes.
Make marinade by mixing sesame oil, mirin, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and gochujang together in a container/bowl. Add more of some ingredients to taste. Add some of the chopped green onions.
Add tofu to the marinade. Be sure that all tofu gets some marinade on it and as much tofu as possible is submerged in the marinade. Let it sit for at least 30-60 minutes.
Warm a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium heat with the peanut oil. When the pan/oil is hot, add the marinated tofu. Save left over marinade as this will become the sauce. Be careful as the tofu will pop and spit quite a bit at the beginning. I used a glass lid as a shield. Fry the tofu so that is brown and crusted on all sides. Remove from pan and let drain on paper towel.
In same pan as tofu, on medium heat, add chilies and ginger to hot pan. Cook one minute.
Add the carrots, bell pepper, and whites stalks of the green onions to the pan. Add some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to get soft.
Whisk corn starch into the left over marinade. Be sure there are no lumps.
Add the corn starch-marinade mixture to the vegetables in the pan. Toss with vegetables and let cook together for one minute.
Turn off heat. Add cooked noodles and tofu to the pan. Toss the noodles and vegetables together until all are equally coated with the sauce. Top with the juice of 1 lime.
Serve and top with chopped peanuts and cilantro.