Illustrated recipe: Spicy tomato and tofu noodles

A warming and umami-filled dish

I have a long(ish) list of recipes to illustrate for you guys, but I find it particularly enjoyable when it’s something that I have thrown together and really enjoyed, rather than recipes I’ve cooked again and again. Sharing food that I’ve enjoyed cooking and eating, rather than keeping to an exact ‘content calendar’ is more enjoyable and more important to me. It’s more like the natural and organic conversations I might have with friends or colleagues about what we’ve been cooking lately. Rather than a newspaper column. (Though I do also love foodie newspaper columns - Rachel Roddy on The Guardian is a particular favourite, probably because I’d quite like to be living in Italy, too.)

So, this week, we have something I cooked on Sunday night. And I did, literally, throw it together. I had slightly different plans, but when I got back from a weekend away with my youngest daughter, I found that the fridge was somehow set at an extra low temperature and all the vegetables in the vegetable drawers, along with some on the bottom shelf were frozen and had to be chucked out. So it wasn’t quite what I was aiming for, but it was bloomin delicious, so it’s going into my rotation. And at least one other person in the house liked it, too, which is always a bonus (the best bonus when all of them really like something I cook, because it’s a rarity).

Here’s a quick description of the meal and a selection of the spot illustrations.

I combined, onion, garlic, chillies (red and green), with two packets of baby plum tomatoes, a block of firm tofu and a can of coconut milk. I added miso, chilli bean sauce and tomato purée and a handful of edamame beans (I was going to include courgettes, but they had been frozen by the annoying fridge). Served mixed together with some ramen noodles. It was really, really nice. So nice, I kind of want to go and cook it again now, but I’m probably going to have to stick with some kind of soup as I have a really sore throat and swollen glands (boo hoo).

This is the fifth printable illustrated recipe I’ve shared – here are the others.

Illustrated recipe: Tomato and bean casserole

Illustrated recipe: Orzo salad

Illustrated recipe: Shepherdess Pie

Illustrated recipe: SOUPS

And here’s the printable PDF.

Tipk Recipes Tomtofunoodles

7.59MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

And here’s a text version of the recipe:

• 1 large brown onion

• 4 garlic cloves

• 2 red chillis

• 2 green chillis

• 3 tbsp olive oil (or you could also use coconut or sesame oil, or whatever you prefer; I tend to cook almost everything with extra virgin olive oil!)

  300g block of firm or superfirm tofu (I used Dragonfly super firm)

• 500g cherry or baby plum tomatoes

• ½ cup of frozen edamame beans (fresh would probably be fine, too, but I’ve never seen them fresh in the UK)

• 1 tbsp chilli bean sauce (toban djan) (I used Lee Kum Kee brand, and it is suitable for vegans)

• 1 tbsp miso paste (I used red miso and Hanamaruki brand)

• 1 tbsp tomato purée (I used Mutti brand, triple concentrate, so maybe use 1½ tbsp if you have a less concentrated purée)

• 1 400 ml can coconut milk (I used M&S brand)

• 250g noodles (I used Itsu ramen noodles, because there was a packet sitting on the shelf!)

1. Finely dice the onion, garlic and chillis (I also deseed the chillis, but if you like a bigger kick, go ahead and leave them in).

2. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan or a wok and add the diced vegetables, and cook on a medium heat for around 5 minutes.

3. Cut the tomatoes in half and add to the pan. Mix and cook for a few minutes while you go through Step 4.

4. Cut the tofu into around 2cm cubes and add it to the pan with the diced vegetables. (I like the tofu plain and un-pressed or pre-fried; but experiment and do it the way you prefer).

5. Add the edamame beans and cook for another 5–10 minutes.

6. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn down to a low–medium heat to reduce a bit, while you cook the noodles.

7. Heat a pan full of water to boiling and then add the noodles and cook according to the packet instructions, then drain. (If you use ready-cooked noodles you can skip to Step 7.)

8. Add the cooked and drained noodles to the pan and continue cooking for a few minutes.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s illustrated recipe and do let me know if you try it.