Trenton wants to make a collection of recipes but I’ve kind of been dreading the prospect of transcribing some of the dinners I make. I don’t measure ingredients; I don’t time anything. I taste a lot and make it up as I go. That said, it would be pretty cool to catalog some of my better meal recipes. Here’s one we had last night:
tofu & snap pea stir-fry with brown rice
The tamarind and cilantro play are great together, giving this stir-fry a vaguely Thai flavor. The green, bright taste of the snap peas makes this a clean tasting dish that contrasts with the spicy heat in a really fun way. So yum.
Ingredients:
1 cup rice, cooked with sesame oil
1 package tofu, sliced (I slice a block into three wide sheets and then cut into triangles)
bunch snap peas, strings removed
1 medium onion, chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced (we really like garlic)
1 green onion, sliced
handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 TBSP sesame oil
2 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp tamarind paste
1/4 tsp ground ginger
red pepper flakes to taste
1 TBSP soy sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Place the tofu on a greased cookie sheet and drizzle with sesame oil. Bake the tofu for about 10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
Cook rice.*
In a wok or large skillet with a lid, add sesame oil on medium heat. Add red pepper flakes, ginger and fry the spices for about a minute. Add chopped onions and cook until just barely translucent (you want the onions to have a little tender crunchiness when you’re totally done cooking). Add garlic and stir for another minute or so. Add tamarind paste and soy sauce. Stir well.
Add snap peas, stir to coat in the sauce and cover. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, until snap peas reach their desired tenderness (they’re pretty gross mushy; better to err on the side of too crunchy). My cue for perfect snap peas is wait until they start to become fragrant, and cook them for just about a minute or two longer.
Add baked tofu and stir, coating everything in the sauce.
Just before serving, sprinkle with green onions and cilantro. Serve over rice, with red pepper flakes, sriracha, and soy sauce on the side.
*Some tips for cooking rice on the stove. We don’t have a rice cooker, and you should totally believe the hype—cooking rice is not as simple as it seems like it should be. Typical directions call for a 2:1 water:rice ratio, plus some oil/butter. You stir in everything when the water is still cold, bring the whole mix to a boil uncovered, then bring the heat down to a simmer and cover that bitch with a lid. I’ve made truckloads of rice, and here’s what I’ve learned:
1) Clear glass lids! Can’t say it enough. Taking the lid off before it’s done is anathema to great rice. Instead of relying on a timer, I will tilt the pot a bit, peer through the glass lid and and check how sloshy the rice is. Being able to see it in action is crucial for me. For perfect rice, there shouldn’t be any water remaining, but you don’t want it to remain in this state on the burner long, because it will burn. Not enough water, burnt rice. Too much water for too long, mushy rice. Brings me to my second tip:
2) Try a little less than 2:1. I’ve found that for a cup of rice, I really only need about 1 3/4 cups of water. Trenton and I both like our rice separate and piecey, rather than mushy and starchy, and this ratio works really well for that.
3) The typical instructions tell you to switch the heat to a simmer as soon as you bring it to a boil, but I like to let it work its magic for just a bit longer than that. Get a good roiling boil, and maybe 30 seconds-1 minute after that, switch it to simmer, slap on a lid, and let it be.
4) You can fix it. If it looks like you’re heading towards a mushy mess too quickly (too much water too late in the cooking process), crank up the heat, take the lid off, and allow some of the extra moisture to escape. Likewise, if it’s getting dry before totally softened, add more water (a little less than 1/4 cup at a time) and let it simmer some more.