A vegan recipe! We eat a ton of noodles around here, and we love edamame. Edamame and tofu both pack tons of plant-based protein (tofu is made of fermented soybeans, and edamame is a soybean.)
Tofu is awesome because it absorbs the flavor of whatever you put it in, so it’s very versatile. I don’t love tofu with “western” flavors, but it’s such a common ingredient in so many Asian cuisines. It’s one of my favorite plant-based proteins (and it’s cheap!)
See General Tso tofu for more tofu.
I used bean thread noodles made from mung bean starch. These noodles are a standard Asian grocery store item, very easy to find (I bought these at the Asian grocery store in Ledyard.) Bean thread noodles cook much more quickly than wheat pasta does — in fact, you don’t even need to boil the water. Just soaking in hot water will do!
I used these noodles, and I bought them at the Asian grocery store in Ledyard.
Galangal is an aromatic root like ginger, and it’s easy to find in a lot of Asian grocery stores (I got some in Ledyard), but ginger is fine if you can’t find galangal.
Tofu and Edamame Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 packets bean thread noodles
- 1 14oz package firm tofu
Sauce
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger or galangal
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Vegetables
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
- ½ red bell pepper (diced)
- 3 green onions (chopped, white and green parts separated)
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame
- ¼ cup various fresh herbs (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Press the water out of the tofu. Stand the whole block of tofu on a bunch of paper towels, and lay more paper towels over the top. Put a heavy pan on top of the tofu to weigh it down, tand leave it there for about an hour.
- Cut the tofu into cubes. I like to cut the whole block in half lengthwise, and then I slice it into quarters crosswise. Then, I quarter each one of those 4 squares for a total of 32 tofu cubes.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Stir 2 tablespoons of the sauce together with the tofu to use as a marinade. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it marinate in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Boil a pot of water. Pour off about 1 cup of the boiling water into a bowl, and stir in the edamame. Let the edamame sit for a while in the hot water while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Use the boiling pot of water to cook the noodles according to package instructions. Bean thread noodles don't need much time to cook. You can basically drop them into the boiling water, turn the heat off and let them soak for 3 minutes to soften up.
- Heat the canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. The secret to great Asian stir-fries is cooking them at a high temperature. Watch the skillet closely so the veggies don't burn!
- Cook the red pepper, garlic, and white parts of the green onion in the skillet for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the edamame and the green parts of the green onions to the skillet and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the sauce and the cooked bean thread noodles to the vegetable mixture and give it all a good stir for a minute or two.
- Remove the vegetables and noodles to a plate and give the skillet a solid spritz of nonstick spray.
- Add the tofu to the skillet and cook it until it is browned on most sides. You probably won't be able to brown ALL SIX SIDES of each tofu cubes, but try to brown the tofu best you can. The sauce has a lot of sugar in it, so it will brown fairly quickly.
- Be gentle with the tofu, it can break easily! I like to use chopsticks or a metal spatula, and I also like to avoid stirring the tofu too much. I'll let it sit for a minute or two without touching it, gently lift the tofu to turn it with chopsticks or the edge of the metal spatula, let it sit for a minute or two again…
- Stir the fresh herbs into the noodle and vegetable mixture. Top with the cooked tofu cubes.
