Mung Bean Noodles in a Jar

 

This is an easy lunch gluten-free soup to prepare.  You can assemble it ahead and store it in the fridge.  You just pour hot water and voila you have a comforting soup for lunch dinner or break.

Mung bean noodles cook easily in hot water but you can use ramen noodles also.

Mung Bean Noodles in a Jar 

Inspired by this site.

Ingredients

• 1 bundle of bean thread noodles (Saifun brand)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp sriracha
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp sweetener (optional)
• carrots, radishes, spinach, napa cabbage, or vegetables of your choice
• 2 1/2 cup hot water
• green onion and cilantro for garnish

Place the soy sauce, sriracha, garlic powder, ginger powder, sweetener if using, and vegetables of your choice at the bottom of a mason jar.  

Place the bean thread noodles on top of the vegetable mixture.

Replace the lid and refrigerate till needed.

Pour the hot water over the jar when you are ready to eat and mix.  

Add the green onion and cilantro and eat from the jar or transfer into a dish.

 

My craving for Pancit Malabon came when my sister Bebeng showed off the dishes she prepared for her and Kuya Jun's celebration of their wedding anniversary.  It is a popular noodle dish from Malabon, Metro Manila Philippines where I am originally from.  It is made with ground pork, garlic, achuete, fish sauce, pork rind and calamansi juice.  My younger sister Menchie joked that I could perhaps use cauliflower walnut meat for the ground pork.  I shared with her the YouTube video of my recent demo online on the use of this meat substitute which I conducted for the Plant Based Pittsburgh group I belonged to.  

I decided to give it a try.  I have expanded the use of this versatile meat substitute for another Filipino dish menudo and the Italian dish Bolognese.  Of course, it is used for making tacos as it was originally conceived to be used.  

I was happy with the result.  It has the citrusy, salty and garlicky flavor of the original.   I used lots of dry minced garlic, soy sauce instead of fish sauce and lemon juice instead of calamansi juice.  The spices in the cauliflower walnut meat enhanced the dish and helped flavored it.  It definitely took me back home to Malabon.   

Vegan Pancit Malabon

2 cups cauliflower walnut meat (recipe below)
4 tbsp Soy sauce
Lemon juice from 1 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp garlic flakes
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup chopped celery

2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water to form a slurry
2 stalks green onions chopped
8 oz rice noodles, cooked and rinsed (I cooked mine in the Instant Pot with 4 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt at high pressure for 1 minute and 4 minutes natural pressure release) 

Add the cauliflower meat, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic flakes, vegetable broth and chopped celery in a skillet and heat the mixture till the broth boils.  Add the cornstarch/water slurry and stir till mixture thickens.

Add the cooked and rinsed rice noodles to the mixture.  Garnish with chopped green onions.

Cauliflower Walnut Meat

Makes about 4-5 cups

Adapted From the website Pinch of Yum

3 cups cauliflower florets 

2 tbsp chipotle peppers from can, chopped

2 cups raw walnuts

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. (You can skip this step if not baking).  

  

Place all the ingredients in a large food processor. If you have a medium sized one, do it in two batches. Pulse till the ingredients are blended and the mixture is mealy in texture. Transfer the mixture into a parchment lined pan and spread the mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes and stir half way.  (You can skip this baking step and use it as is).

 

 

This is a one pot wonder. Thanks Instant Pot.   You cook the pasta first in the pot then dump the sauce and heat it through in the same pot.  

The brown gravy is full of umami flavor from the soy sauce and enhanced by mustard and further deepened by, (surprise), coffee. All ingredients are straight from your cupboard. And no chopping.  

The add ins are up to you. I was lazy and used prepared vegan meat but chopped vegetables like cauliflower or carrots combined with walnuts is a good whole food plant based option.  (see here)

Instant Pot Wide Noodles with Easy Brown Gravy

Pasta in Instant Pot

16 oz wide noodles (note 1)

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

Easy Brown Gravy (double the recipe if you want sauce drenched pasta)

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup non dairy milk

4 tbsp soy sauce or to taste

1 tbsp Dijon mustard or more to taste

2 tbsp dry onion flakes or powder

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp cornstarch 

2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)

Add ins

1 cup vegan meat, chopped or sliced (note 2)

1 15 oz can green peas, drained and rinsed

Place the noodles, water and salt in the Instant Pot.  The noodles do not need to be all covered with water.

Cook the noodles at high pressure for 1 minute for al dente or 2 minutes for softer noodles.  Allow for natural pressure release for 5 minutes then quick release.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl then add to the cooked pasta in the pot. You can add the vegan meat at this point.

Put the Instant Pot in the saute mode and heat the sauce and pasta with continuous stirring till the sauce has coated the pasta.

Add the peas.

  

Notes

1. I used store bought wide egg noodles.  You can buy egg free wide pasta ribbons from Walmart. see here

2.  I used Honest Pastures (order here) seitan based Jackfruit Beaf Ribz.  I have also used Gardein beef crumble available in the freezer section of the grocery store. You can also use a whole food alternative, cauliflower walnut meat (see recipe here) .

Instant Pot Haluski

Fish fry during lenten season evokes memories of haluski as a side dish and that means cravings for this comfort food.  I decided to make it in the Instant Pot to satisfy this yearning. 

Most haluskis are swimming in butter but I skipped that and I was still happy. The cabbage is a bit soft but I actually did not mind it.  It was indeed comforting since my friend Margaret who is recuperating from surgery loved it.  She was delighted and excited when I told her about it during my visit. She emailed me later she just had to have it when I left.

Complete your fish dinner with this easy and delicious comfort food.

Instant Pot Haluski

1 lb egg noodles
1/2 head Cabbage, cored and quartered
1 onion, chopped
4 cups water
1 tsp salt

Place all the ingredients in the Instant Pot.  It is all right if not all noodles are covered with water.

Put vent in sealing position and cook mixture at high pressure for 1 minute. Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes then quick release.

Season haluski with salt and pepper to your taste.

Vegan Shitake Ramen Pho (Vietnamese Soup)

This is an easy, delicious soup prepared in the microwave. This was inspired by the one from The Pioneer Woman show on TV.  I substituted shitake mushrooms for the beef used in the original recipe. The umami generated by the broth from the dried shitake mushrooms is incredible you will not miss the beef.

Vegan Shitake Ramen Pho

1-2 servings

4 dried shitake mushrooms
2 cups water
1 lime
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup Julienned carrots
1 star anise, optional
1 package ramen noodles (only noodles will be used)
1/2 cup spinach leaves

Add the shitake mushrooms in water in a medium bowl and microwave for five minutes. Take out from the microwave and allow the mushrooms to soak for 20 minutes. Take out the soaked mushrooms and slice in strips. Return them to the broth in the bowl.

Zest only half of a whole lime then cut in half and juice half of it. Add the juice with the zest into the bowl with the mushrooms. Cut the other half in wedges and set aside.

Add the onion slices, minced ginger, sriracha, soy sauce, julienned carrots in the bowl.

Add the ramen noodles without the seasoning to the bowl.

Microwave the mixture for three minutes.

Add the spinach at the end.

Microwaved Gluten Free Bean Thread Noodles

This is an easy noodle dish to accompany your stir fried or steamed vegetables or dumplings or any meat dish for that matter.  It takes three ingredients and 10 minutes cooking in the microwave.

It uses Saifun or bean thread noodles from the Asian Store. The noodles are made from mung bean, starch, potato starch and water.  It is a good gluten free noodle dish and serves as another option aside from rice sticks noodles. It is glassy looking and has a slippery texture when cooked. It absorbs easily the soy sauce or other sauce you add to it. The bean thread noodles come in bundles.  I used all three bundles from the packet I bought but you can just use one packet and adjust the amounts of the other ingredients accordingly.

I simplified the preparation of this dish and just relied on the addition of dry minced garlic from a bottle. One can add ginger powder if you wish but the garlic is sufficient.

This is an easy, delicious and highly satisfying dish to prepare.  Perfect accompaniment to any meal, Chinese, American etc. Next time you need a side dish in your meal, try this.

Microwaved Gluten Free Bean Thread Noodles

• 1- 5.29 oz packet Saifun or Bean Thread Noodles ( three bundles) (from Asian Store)
• water
• 2-3  tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2  tsp dry minced garlic (I used McCormick brand)
• 1/8 tsp ginger powder (optional)
• black pepper to taste

Place the three bundles of bean thread noodles in a microwave safe bowl.  Add just enough water as to cover the top of the bean thread noodles so that the noodles are submerged.  Microwave for 10 minutes at 100 percent power setting. I used a 1100 watt microwave oven.  You know it is done when the noodles absorb the water and plumped up and get soft and edible. Drain. 

Add the soy sauce, minced garlic, ginger powder if using and black pepper to the noodles and mix.

Serve with any steamed vegetables or stir fried vegetables.  

Microwaved Udon Noodles and Bok Choy Bowl with Sweet Spicy Sauce

I am sharing with you how easy and fast it is to prepare an irresistible noodle bowl in the microwave using a packet of udon and a vegetable of choice, which in this case is bok choy.  I actually microwaved the two separately but you can do them together since they have the same cooking time.  I wanted to be sure that my vegetable, bok choy, was not overcooked so I would stop and test their doneness, thus I preferred to cook it separately.

I have introduced udon noodles in this blog in a past blogpost on the Udon Shiitake Mushroom Soup recipe. In this past recipe, I used frozen udon noodles which came in separate small individual bundles of four.  The only thing I find inconvenient in using them was I had to freeze them and my freezer was always full.  When I saw udon noodles in 7.2 oz packets similar to the looks of Ramen noodles at the Asian store, I bought several with different flavor packets like, oriental, chicken, beef and shrimp.  In this recipe, I just used the noodles and saved the flavor or soup base for later use.  I was particularly concerned with the presence of monosodium glutamate as one of the ingredients in the flavor or soup base. 

You do not need these flavor packets in this recipe since you will be using a sweet spicy sauce with a Korean flavor that is very addictive.  For the sauce, I used the one I adapted from the recipe for this dish, Soba Noodles with Spicy Sweet Gochujang Sauce, I published previously in this blog.  I used less Gochujang sauce for the sauce for this recipe and substituted ketchup and sriracha for some of the amounts of Gochujang I used in the past recipe.  If you are wondering which of the two noodles, udon or soba, I prefer, I would say udon would be my choice.  It is not as slippery to eat as the soba noodles. But both are good.

This noodle dish is very addictive.  It is very versatile.  You can use any vegetables you want and also if you like add some meat or seafood. 

Microwaved Udon Noodles and Bok Choy Bowl with Sweet Spicy Sauce

1 generous serving

• 1-7.2 oz package udon noodles (from Asian store)
• 1 bok choy or other vegetables of your choice
• sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 recipe Sweet and Spicy Sauce (recipe below)

Place the udon noodles in a bowl.  Add about 1 cup water or enough to cover the noodles.  Microwave for 3 minutes. I used a 1100 watt oven.

Cut the bok choy in half and place in a bowl with 4 tbsp water and microwave for three minutes. 

Sweet and Spicy Sauce 

• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1/4 tsp sriracha 
• 1 tsp Gochujang sauce
• 1 tsp dry garlic flakes
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil

Mix all the sauce ingredients with a fork.  

Assembly

Place the drained udon noodles and bok choy in a bowl.  Add the sauce to the noodles and  mix.  Sprinkle sesame seeds if you like.

Soba Noodle Bowl with Sweet Spicy Gochujang Sauce

This noodle bowl will warm you up during this frigid weather.  The Chinese use spicy food both to warm and cool themselves. This fits the role of the former and it did just that yesterday morning. At breakfast at that. Plus two servings because it was addictive.

This is not a Chinese dish but a Korean one using this ethnic group's popular condiment, gochujang sauce, which I have featured in past blogs, here and here . I also used soba noodles, which is of Japanese origin, that I have used in preparing soba noodle soup with tofu in a previous blog. In this recipe soba noodles are eaten dry without any broth.  They are instead just coated with the delicious spicy sauce.  This sauce is the heart of the dish and has great flavor so any type of noodles would work. You can substitute Ramen like the ones you buy in packets for a few bucks for a dozen or so.  Just skip the flavor packet and substitute the sauce with the gochujang.  You can also use linguine or spaghetti.

You will enjoy this morning, noon or night or in between as a snack.  Asians whether Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese or Koreans love to eat savory noodle dishes, dry or as soups, for their afternoon breaks.  You would too since this is so addictive you would not be able to wait for dinner to eat it. 

Soba Noodle Bowl with Sweet Spicy Gochujang Sauce

Inspired by this, this and this past blogs

2 servings

• 1-3.5 oz bundle soba noodles (The Hana brand I used came in 3.5 oz bundles), prepared according to the package
• vegetables of your choice, (I used microwaved carrots and broccoli)
•  Sweet Spicy Gochujang Sauce (recipe from this and reprinted below)

Distribute the soba noodles into two medium bowls.  Add one half (start with less) of the Sweet Spicy Gochujang Sauce to the soba noodles in each bowl and mix till the noodles are coated. Top with the cooked vegetables of your choice.  The soba noodle bowl can be eaten either cold or warm.

Sweet Spicy Gochujang Sauce

recipe from this 

• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce (Note 1)
• 1 tbsp gochujang sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/3 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup (Note 1)
• 1/2 tbsp dry garlic flakes (Note 2)
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder (Note 2)

Notes

1.  You can adjust the amounts soy sauce and maple syrup and other ingredients for that matter according to your taste.

2.  You can use 1/2 tbsp fresh minced garlic and 1/2 tbsp fresh minced ginger.  I am pretty lazy and opted for the dry ones.

Easy Udon Shiitake Mushroom Soup

Do not let the unfamiliar terms, udon and even shiitake mushrooms, intimidate you. This is an easy quick soup to prepare but utterly delicious. I fell in love with udon noodles when my sisters and I visited my niece Gia in Canada.  She brought us to August Eight Restaurant for an all- you- can- eat sushi dinner.  You can order whatever you want for a flat fee as long as you can finish them if not you pay for the left overs.  The technique is to order as a group the dishes members agreed on not at one time but several times during dinner and reorder only when they are gone or close to be totally consumed. 

My sister ordered Udon soup and swooned about it.  I decided to try it myself and I was hooked. Udon noodles come over the counter even gluten free or frozen and the latter was what I opted for since it had the thickness of the noodles that I ate at August Eight in Canada. I prepared the frozen noodle right in the package in the microwave after puncturing some holes on the wrapper.  I then boiled the shitake mushrooms with the broth and added the vegetables during the last portion of the cooking process.  I did not add any soy sauce or any salt containing condiments since the broth was salty enough for me. For the finishing touch I added a few drops or one swirl, of sesame oil right on the bowl of finished soup before eating.  Heaven!

Easy Udon Shitake Mushroom Soup 

(two servings)

• 1 package of frozen udon noodles, cooked according to package instructions
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 6 pieces dried black shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tbsp dry onion flakes
• 1 tbsp dry garlic flakes
• 1/4 tsp dry ginger
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/4 cup sliced red radish
• 1 stalk green onions, sliced
• sesame oil

Place the vegetable broth, mushrooms, onion flakes, garlic flakes, ginger and red pepper flakes in a pot. Allow the mixture to boil for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms have softened.  Continue to boil and add the carrots and red radish and boil them till they are cooked but still crispy.  Then add the spinach at the last minute till it is just barely wilted.   

Place the udon noodles into two soup bowls.  Ladle the soup into the bowls.  Garnish with the green onions. Add a swirl of sesame oil over the top of the soup before slurping or eating it.  Enjoy.

Pancit Canton with Sriracha Miso Sauce

The Filipinos have different types of noodles which are made either from rice, flour or mung beans. Rice sticks are called Pancit bihon, the flour noodles, pancit canton and the mung bean one, sotanghon.  I am using the flour stick noodle type, pancit canton, in this dish.  Originally pancit canton (and it is still available in select stores in Chinatown in your neighborhood) was made using eggs also.  Fortunately for me who is plant based, they have stuck to just using flour.

Seasoning the pancit canton varies from using soy sauce or fish sauce or both with citrus like the native calamansi or the more readily available lemon or lime.  See a recipe I posted in the past using these condiments.  In this recipe I resorted to using miso paste in place of the fish sauce to flavor the noodle dish and I was very happy with the result.  Of course there is nothing like fish sauce but this miso paste comes pretty close in the tastiness satisfaction scale for me.  I even put more kick into the dish by adding sriracha sauce.  Amazing.  I almost ate the whole thing and I am pretty picky.

Pancit Canton with Sriracha Miso Sauce

Sauce

• juice of 1 lemon   
• 2 tbsp miso paste
• 4 drops or more sriracha sauce

Vegetables and noodles                       

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/4 cabbage head, cored and sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp dry garlic flakes or fresh garlic
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 16 oz flour noodles or pancit canton (from Asian Store) (note 1)
• pepper to taste
• 2 cups water or more as needed
• slices of green onions for garnish
• slices of lemon for garnish

Sauce:

In a small bowl mix the lemon, miso paste and sriracha sauce and set aside.

Vegetables and Noodles:

Place the vegetable broth, carrots, celery, cabbage, onion, garlic flakes and soy sauce in a wok or pot. Cover and allow to boil till the vegetables are cooked but still crispy.

Transfer the cooked vegetables into another container and leave any leftover broth in the wok or pot. Add the water to the broth and submerge the flour noodles or pancit canton in the liquid mixture while cooking at medium heat.  Let the noodle soften while stirring them.  Add more water if needed but do not add too much or the noodles will get too soggy.

When the noodles are cooked, add to it the cooked vegetables and the prepared sauce and mix.  Garnish with sliced green onions and lemon slices.

Note:

1.  You can substitute cooked spaghetti instead.  Just mix the cooked vegetables and sauce to it.  

Tofu Vegetable Soba Noodle Soup

This is a hearty simple plant based soup laden with micro nutrient rich vegetables and protein.  It has the additional plus of having the Japanese soba noodles which are made of nutritious and fiber rich buckwheat, wheat and yam flour.  It has a neutral taste and soft, a tad slippery texture.  You will have fun slurping it.

The vegetable broth for me has enough salt and flavor in it I just added a few slices of ginger for added zing to it but it could be optional.  I would let the amount of soy sauce be left to the discretion of the one eating this soup.  The sesame oil for me gives that added sizzle so to speak to the soup. I would use only one round of it though.  Enjoy!

Tofu Vegetable Soba Noodle Soup

• 1-3.5 oz bundle soba noodles (The Hana brand I used came in 3.5 oz bundles)    
• 6 cups water (or as suggested by the Soba noodle package)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 oz firm tofu, cubed
• 1 carrot, sliced                                                          
• 6 napa cabbage leaves, sliced
• 1/2 inch ginger, peeled and sliced (optional) 
• 2 small zucchini, sliced
• soy sauce
• sesame oil

Soba Noodles

Bring the water to boil.  Place the soba noodles in the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes with occasional stirring.  Drain using a strainer and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.

Tofu Vegetable Soup

Place the vegetable broth, carrots, napa cabbage and ginger in a pot and allow the mixture to boil.  When the carrots are cooked but still firm, add the zucchini.  Allow the mixture to simmer till the zucchini is done.

Assembly

Divide the soba noodles into two soup bowls and ladle the soup on top of the noodles.  Season with soy sauce according to taste and douse with sesame oil before eating.

Five Ingredient Pancit Bihon (Rice Stick Noodles)

Pancit Bihon is the rice stick version of the whole repertoire of noodles in the Philippines.  We have egg (actually flour in some brands) noodles or pancit canton and sotanghon noodles made from mung beans. These three types of noodles are in almost every Filipino pantry even in the homes of those who have moved here in the United States.  I keep them in stock so I have them every time I have a craving for pancit, the Filipino general term for noodles.

In this dish I used the rice stick noodles to make Pancit Bihon, a very popular dish in the Philippines served for everyday meals as well as parties.  I had some guests yesterday and one of them has gluten allergy so Pancit Bihon came to mind.  I was preparing a lot of other dishes so I wanted a simple version of this dish and this is what I came up with.  Five ingredients but everybody loved it including my friend Linda who wanted the recipe.

Five Ingredient Pancit Bihon (Rice Stick Noodles)

• 1 lb rice stick noodles (available in Asian stores and the ethnic sections of large grocery stores)
• 1 box vegetable or chicken broth (4 cups)
• 6 carrots cut into disks
• 6 celery stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 whole cabbage, cut into bite sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste.

Soak the rice stick noodles in water for 10 minutes for easy handling.  

Place the broth in a pot and place the cut vegetables and cook them till they are soften but still crunchy. Do not overcook.  

Remove the vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon. Place the rice stick noodles in the broth and cook the noodles till they are pliable and edible and the liquid has evaporated.  Stir while cooking the noodles especially towards the end when most of the broth is gone.  You may add more broth or water if you need it until the noodles are in the pliable and edible state.  Do not overcook it either or it will be soggy.

Mix the cooked vegetables with the noodles.  Season with salt and pepper.  You can use soy sauce or fish sauce instead of salt if you like.  

Note:

This is a large batch. You can freeze the leftovers.  It is one noodle that freezes well.

Zucchini Pasta with Peanut Sauce (Vegetarian Pad Thai)

If you are watching your carbs, this is a recipe for you.  It uses spiralized zucchini instead of rice noodles, one of the latest food trends.  This a vegetarian low carb Pad Thai with an easy delicious peanut sauce.    

                      

Zucchini Pasta with Peanut Sauce (Vegetarian Pad Thai)

Zucchini Pasta

• One large zucchini                        

Peanut Sauce

• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp sugar or sugar substitute
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chili paste

Garnish

• 1 scrambled egg
• carrot strips
• green onions, sliced
• ground peanuts, optional

Cut the zucchini with a spiralizer into noodle strips.  Set it aside.

Mix the sauce ingredients with a fork.

Place the zucchini noodles in a bowl.  Place the peanut sauce over it.  Garnish with the scrambled egg, carrot strips, green onions and ground peanuts if using.

Oyster Sauce Flavored Tofu and Stir Fried Vegetables Over Zucchini Noodles

 

  

Everytime I go to the Asian Market in Monroeville I try to buy canned vegetables such as bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, straw mushrooms and baby corn.  They are used a lot in Chinese cooking since they greatly enhance the taste and texture of the dishes. They keep and so everytime I feel like cooking a stir fried dish I have these vegetables handy.

The tofu was on sale at the same store yesterday so I bought three packages. This is timely since I was craving something vegetarian yesterday.  To satisfy this healthy longing I prepared this dish with firm tofu that have been pressed or removed of its moisture as the protein source.  Pressing the tofu helps it absorb the flavors added to it and preserve its texture during the stir frying process.  See how tofus are pressed in a past blog. 

The main coating for the tofu as well as the flavoring for the vegetables was Oyster Flavored Sauce. You can use an equal amount of soy sauce and brown sugar to taste as an easy substitute.  You can also check this website for other vegetarian oyster sauce substitutes.

 

To help me and my husband with our goal to lose weight I tried serving this over zucchini noodles.  (I actually have to work harder on this losing weight business.  My husband already lost 10 lbs versus my 3-4 lbs.  Oh my.) Since I do not have the gizmo like the so called spiralizer, I used my vegetable peeler to make zucchini ribbons.  I served this dish over these noodles to my husband and he gave it a thumbs up as long as, according to him,  he is not focusing on the fact they are made of zucchini.  In other words I should just shut up and stop reminding him of this fact.

Oyster Sauce Flavored Tofu and Stir Fried Vegetables Over Zucchini Noodles

6 servings

Tofu

• 16 oz firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp oyster flavored sauce or vegetarian substitute

Vegetables

• 2 tbsp oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch strips
• 2 celery ribs, bias cut into 1 inch pieces
• 5 napa cabbage leaves, cut into 1 inch strips
• 16 oz frozen broccoli florets, microwaved according to directions or you can use fresh ones
• 1 8oz can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
• 1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 1 15 oz can whole baby corn, drained and cut in half
• 1 7.4 oz can straw mushrooms
• 5 tbsp oyster flavored sauce or vegetarian substitute
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tbsp cornstarch stirred in 1 tbsp water
• salt and pepper to taste

Tofu

Heat oil in a wok at medium heat.  Add the pressed and cubed tofu in the heated oil and stir fry for 3 minutes or until light brown.  Add the oyster sauce till the tofu are coated and heat with stirring for 1 minute.  Set aside.

Vegetables

Add the oil in the same wok heated at medium heat.  Add the garlic, onions, carrots and celery and stir fry till the carrots are cooked but still firm.

Add the napa cabbage, microwaved broccoli, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn and straw mushrooms and stir fry till the vegetables are heated through.  Do not overcook. 

Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and ginger powder to the vegetables.   Allow the sauce to mildly boil and then immediately add the cornstarch water mixture.  Continue to boil for about 30 seconds to cook the cornstarch.  Season with salt and pepper.

Assembly

When ready to serve, place the oyster sauce coated tofu over the stir fried vegetables. 

You can serve the dish over brown or white rice, noodles or zucchini noodles for low carb version  (see below). 

Zucchini Noodles (2 servings)

• 1 zucchini, cut into ribbons or spiralized.
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp oil

Using a vegetable peeler or mandolin or spiralizer (etc), make zucchini noodles with or without the peel. Heat one clove of garlic in one tbsp oil and stir fry the zucchini for 1-2 minutes till cooked but still firm. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and then remove the liquid.

These nutrition facts below are for the Tofu and Stir Fried Vegetables without the Zucchini Noodles