Thai Tofu Rice Bowl

This dish definitely has the Thai flavors that one craves for once in a while and maybe all the time.  When you have to have that fix, here is a simple recipe.  I made this pretty close to being plant based except for the fish sauce which you can easily substitute tamari or soy sauce with.  The secret to attaining the Thai flavors is the trio of fish sauce (or soy sauce), lime and sugar.

This recipe was inspired by the one on the awesome Closet Cooking website which utilized ground beef instead of tofu.  I wanted a plant based recipe so I dared to substitute silken tofu for the beef.   You can also use firm tofu instead.

I love the overall result which is pretty close to the Thai flavors of the Pad Thai that I love to devour.  I could have eaten the whole recipe.  So good.  You can serve this over brown rice or with rice noodles and come up with Pad Thai easily.

Thai Tofu Rice Bowl

• 1 block (8 - 12 oz) silken tofu (or firm tofu)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green or red pepper, diced
• 2 dry red chilies, crushed
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce or tamari to be plant based)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 1/2 cup basil
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and julienned

Saute the onion and garlic. Add the tofu, green or red pepper, crushed red chilies, fish sauce, sugar. lime zest and juice and basil.  Mix till the mixture is heated through.  

Serve garnished with green onions and carrots. You can provide more fresh basil and whole dry red chilies for the strong hearted if desired.  You can also garnish with peanuts if you like.