what’s for dinner? Curry tofu noodles

Posted: February 17, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Dinner, Meals, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Tonight I was inspired to make some curried fried rice noodles. Was thinking of a common Singapore noodle dish (星洲炒米粉) and wanted to use up the tofu I had. Of course, being Thursday and having a full Friday/weekend schedule, I didn’t have too much in the fridge, so I did what I could!

Just a side note, one of my favourite ways to eat tofu is frozen. Well, not like a popsicle, but frozen, thawed and cooked. Freezing tofu creates this great texture and it changes the way it can be flavoured. Quite scientific if you ask me! Tofu is like (I’m making this up) 80% water, and water expands when frozen. When you freeze tofu, the water inside it expands and this stretches the tofu and makes “holes” in it, giving it a really nice texture when thawed and cooked.

Did I mention it’s one of my favs? :P

Curry Tofu Noodles

Rice noodles (I like the wider kind)
Soft tofu, frozen and thawed
Finely sliced red pepper
Finely sliced carrot
Bite sized celery
Minced garlic
Finely sliced ginger (alternatively, you could just slice bigger medallions)
Curry powder
Cumin
Coriander
Basil
Clove
Red pepper flakes
Chili sauce (I used sriracha)
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Lime
Olive oil or coconut oil…whatevs!

  1. Cook rice noodles. Place in hot water, cook until chewy or el dante. Just need to remember you’re going to be cooking them further. Rinse under cold water. Set aside.
  2. While noodles are cooking, prepare the vegetables, ginger and garlic. Set aside.
  3. Heat oil (I used a wok) and add in spices, ginger and garlic. In terms of how much I used, I used significantly more curry than any other spice. I suggest not too much clove, but other than that, go for it however you like!
  4. Once oil and spices have been incorporated into each other, dump in the veg and tofu. Stir.
  5. Add in some fish sauce and soy sauce. Toss around.
  6. Once finished, set aside.
  7. Add more oil to your cookware, add in the same spices (basically repeat step 3) and add in the noodles.
  8. Cook them up for a bit until the noodles are coated with the spices, then add in the vegetables again.
  9. Add some chili sauce to taste.
  10. Squirt in some lime. I used half a lime here and the other half when serving.
  11. Serve!

Yeah..so this was SUPER DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Couldn’t stop eating it! YUMM! =9

One can always modify to their liking, adding different vegetables, spices, whatnot.

Thai Chicken Curry

Posted: March 19, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Delicious, Recipes | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

One day while browsing through the aisles at Loblaws, I found myself in some sort of “international” foods section. There I found a can of coconut milk, so I bought it in hopes that one day I would get up the courage to make curry from scratch.

I’ve made Indian curry, but I cheated with a jar of Bolst’s Curry Powder mix. That turned out AWESOME! It was really good! But this time, I felt I had to do it from scratch. I had most of the spices anyway, so why not?!

My sister came down to visit me this week and after work, we headed to the nearest grocery store and went to buy some ingredients! I have to admit, while browsing through the “Thai” section of the “international” aisle, I was EXTREMELY tempted to buy the jarred pre-made curry and the curry pastes. Good thing my sister was there – she kept me in check!

I was extraordinarily nervous about making Thai curry from scratch. I kept thinking I wouldn’t have enough of the right ingredients and when it came down to putting it all together something would go wrong. At the grocery store they didn’t have shrimp paste or chilis. Couldn’t rectify the shrimp paste situation, but I bought one jalapeno pepper. They’re both spicy right?

Well, after some chopping, some peeling and some blending, I had my curry all ready for cooking. I tasted it and was blown away!! I added the chicken to the pot, seared it, added the curry and just reduced it down to a thicker sauce. I then added some corn starch and made some rice – VOILA! Thai chicken curry!!

It was DELICIOUS!!!!

Curry in Blender

Cooking in the Pot

With the Veggies

Finished Product

The Recipe: Thai Chicken Curry

  • Some chicken cut into pieces (I used 2 chicken breasts, you could definitely use more)
  • Freshly squeezed lime juice
  • Cinnamon
  • fresh basil and cilantro for garnish

CURRY SAUCE:

  • 1 can coconut milk
  • Onions (I used 2 green onions)
  • 1 thumb-size piece ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic (or as much or little as desired)
  • 1 Tbsp. tomato ketchup
  • 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. ground coriander
  • 2 heaping tsp. brown sugar
  • 1 small jalapeno pepper

VEGETABLES:

  • 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 2-3 tomatoes, sliced into wedges
  • And really…any veggie you like!

PREPARATION:

  1. Place all curry sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process well.
  2. Sear chicken pieces in a pot. (I didn’t add oil)
  3. Pour the curry sauce over the chicken. Stir well, so that each of the chicken pieces is covered with sauce.
  4. Add lime and cinnamon, mixing these into the sauce.
  5. Simmer and reduce sauce.
  6. Stir occasionally.
  7. Add mixture of corn starch and water in a bowl. Mix well and add some to the curry until desired viscosity is achieved.

YUMMMMMM!!!!!!