I've been a little preoccupied lately and haven't felt up to doing much meal planning or cooking. This meant that I needed to find something quick and easy to do for dinner last night. Normally my go-to for that is curry. But I've been feeling kind of curried out lately, so I decided to hit up Aaron & Claire for some ideas instead.

I ended up settling on this spicy chicken stir-fry. We were all out of doubanjiang (豆瓣酱/Sichuan spicy bean paste), but we did have Laoganma (老干妈), so I just used that instead. It's not the same. Laoganma is much more oily and salty than doubanjiang. But it makes a tasty dish nonetheless. And some people¹ find they prefer the results of dishes made with Laoganma over doubanjiang anyway. Personally, I think I still prefer the doubanjiang flavour, but this certainly got the job done.

Spicy Ground Chicken Stir-Fry

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. doubanjiang (豆瓣酱/Sichuan spicy bean paste)
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 tsp. chicken bouillon powder (or dasida)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Stir-Fry

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 500g ground chicken
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. minced ginger or ginger paste
• 200g garlic scapes, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
• 450g asparagus or green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small red bell pepper or mild chile, chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• cooked rice, to serve
• fried eggs, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the doubanjiang, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, mirin, bouillon powder, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat a wok over high heat.
3. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
4. Add the chicken and cook until underside is browned.
5. Flip and continue to cook, breaking up as it sears, until chicken is cooked through and liquid has boiled off.
6. Add garlic, ginger, and garlic scapes (if using) and cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the asparagus and bell pepper and cook for another minute or two.
8. Pour in the sauce and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
10. Serve on a bed of rice, topped with a fried egg.

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¹ Looking at you, Reiver!

TF was in a salad-y sort of mood, so I spent a while casting around for hearty salads that could be a complete meal on their own. I found this recipe for "Asian noodle salad" on the Woman's Day website. It appears to be inspired by Vietnamese rice noodle salads. It was pretty good, but a bit lacklustre. Adding some chopped roasted peanuts helped. I'd be tempted to add a bit of fish sauce to the dressing next time too. And maybe toss in a grated carrot or two to boost the veggie content and make it a little more colourful and flavourful.

Asian Noodle Salad

Adapted from Woman's Day

Ingredients

• 1 c. mushroom or vegetable broth
• 1 c. water
• 2 c. TVP crumbles
• 150g rice vermicelli
• 1/4 c. seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. ginger paste, divided
• 1 tsp. fish sauce¹ (optional)
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, sliced crosswise into very thin discs
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cucumber, quartered and sliced thin
• 85g snow peas or green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 carrot, grated (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1/4 c. hoisin sauce²
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 c. roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
• 1 sprig Thai basil (optional)

Directions

1. Bring the water and broth to a boil, remove from heat and add TVP. Stir to combine, then set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Pour boiling water over the vermicelli until it's completely submerged. Allow to sit in hot water until softened (~5 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
3. Combine rice vinegar, sugar, 1 tsp. ginger paste, fish sauce, and chili and mix well.
4. Add veggies to dressing and stir to combine and thoroughly coat. Set aside.
5. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add rehydrated TVP and remaining 1 Tbsp. ginger paste. Cook until fragrant (3-5 minutes).
7. Add hoisin sauce and cook for another minute or so.
8. Remove from heat and stir in green onions.
9. Serve noodles topped with veggies and TVP. Garnish with chopped peanuts and Thai basil.

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¹ As implied by the name, fish sauce is not vegetarian. Leave it out if you're trying to keep it vegetarian or vegan. ^Back
2 While hoisin sauce doesn't generally contain any animal products directly, it does contain sugar and other ingredients that typically use animal products in their production. If you want to make this dish vegan, you may need to make your own hoisin sauce or search for a specifically vegan variety. ^Back

This recipe boasted of being "the best" shrimp ramen, but I honestly found it pretty "meh". Too much soy sauce. Too much sauce in general. Too salty. And just texturally very... disappointing. I think it would've been dramatically improved by cutting the soy sauce by at least 50% and giving the noodles a good fry while the sauce cooks.

Shrimp Ramen

Adapted from Delish

Ingredients

Noodles

• 3 packages of ramen, flavour packets discarded
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 scallions or 1/4 c. Fried Onions

Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp. chile flakes
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. black vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp. sriracha
• 1 c. vegetable broth

Veggies and Protein

• 3-4 c. veggies of choice (broccoli, peas, corn, bell pepper, etc.)
• 400g cooked shrimp

Directions

Noodles

1. Cook ramen according to package directions. Drain.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add noodles and cook, stirring and turning occasionally, while sauce and veggie cook.

Sauce

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add garlic, ginger, and chile flakes and cook for 30-60 seconds.
3. Stir in dark soy, light soy, black vinegar, wine, sugar, lime juice, sriracha, and vegetable broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

Veggies & Protein

1. Add veggies to sauce, cover, and cook until just tender.
2. Stir in shrimp and cook until heated through.
3. Stir in noodles.
4. Top with scallions and/or fried onions.

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Variations

Vegetarian Ramen

Ingredients

Noodles

• 3 packages of ramen, flavour packets discarded
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 scallions or 1/4 c. Fried Onions

Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp. chile flakes
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. black vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp. sriracha
• 1 c. vegetable broth

Veggies and Protein

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 recipe Extra Delicious Tofu

Jook/Congee

I've been in a big breakfast rut lately. The problem is that I like lots of variety but also minimum effort. I'm not a morning person and I'm way too groggy first thing in the morning to actually do much in the way of cooking. This presents something of a problem.

Lately, I've been craving congee -- or jook, depending on where you're from -- for breakfast. I like the idea of something warm and savoury and comforting that isn't eggs. (Nothing against eggs, I just don't normally feel like actually cooking them for breakfast.) I flipped through a few different recipes before settling on what I was going to do for this batch.

My first stop was Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking where I took a look at her recipe for bak jook or "white congee" and suggested accompaniments. This is a simple porridge of short-grain and glutinous white rice and water. All the seasonings and condiments are added at the table. She suggests salted (duck) eggs, fried peanuts, and fried noodles.

Next, I took a look at a short YouTube video featuring a jook with "lots of vegetables". It suggested including green onions, garlic, ginger, jalapeños, chicken, cabbage, snow peas, green beans, soy sauce, and sesame oil in your jook. They also made their version with brown, rather than white rice and topped it with cilantro.

And last, but not least, I had a gander at Budget Byte$ InstantPot jook recipe. They included garlic, ginger, chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and salt in their jook, which used jasmine rice as its base. And for toppings, they went with green onions, cilantro, chopped peanuts, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Those three recipes gave me a pretty good base to work from to create my own custom congee tailored to my tastes. I ended up using short-grain brown rice as the base and using a mix of vegetable broth and water for the liquid component. I followed the suggestion of including some aromatics and mushrooms and added some green vegetables (based on what was on sale at the grocery store) right at the end of cooking. Condiment-wise, I went with fried onions, sesame seeds, fried noodles, light soy sauce, and Laoganma (spicy chili crisp). There would've been fried peanuts as well if I hadn't burned them. And hard-boiled eggs if I hadn't forgotten them.

InstantPot Jook

Adapted from Budget Byte$ (and a couple others)

Ingredients

• 1 c. short-grain brown rice
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2.5cm (1") knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
• 200-250g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 6-8 pieces dried black fungus, crumbled
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 5 c. water
• 50g pea shoots (or other vegetable of choice)
• 170-200g snow peas (or other vegetable of choice), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2-3 scallions, sliced

Condiments¹ (Optional)

• Laoganma (spicy chili crisp)
• sesame seeds (preferably toasted)
• chopped peanuts
• light soy sauce
• fried onions
• fried noodles
• boiled eggs (hard or soft)
• salted eggs²
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Measure rice into InstantPot.
2. Place garlic and ginger on top, along with fresh and dried mushrooms.
3. Add vegetable broth and water.
4. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
5. Leave on "keep warm" until ready to serve³.
6. About 5-10 minutes before serving, stir in the pea shoots, snow peas, and scallions.
7. Serve with whatever condiments you prefer.

This is an incredibly flexible recipe. Feel free to vary, increase, or reduce the inclusions based on what you find appealing or what's available and/or on sale.
Other inclusions that I think might go well:

• cabbage, shredded
• Brussels sprouts, quartered
• bok choy (especially Shanghai bok choy)
• gai lan
• broccolini
• carrots, grated
• sugar snap peas (mangetouts)
• tofu
• shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried)
• dried black mushrooms⁴

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¹ I didn't end up using all of these condiments. This is just a list of suggestions and ideas. Feel free to mix-and-match as you see fit. ^Back
2 You can buy salted duck eggs but Eileen Yin-Fei Lo advises against this. She recommends making your own at home. I haven't tried this yet. I'll do a write-up if when I do. In the meantime, I'm happy with adding plain (unsalted) hard-boiled eggs to my congee. ^Back
3 You can cook your congee the night before and just leave it on "keep warm" overnight. ^Back
4 Not to be confused with "black fungus". Black mushrooms look like pretty typical mushrooms and rehydrate to a chewy texture. Black fungus, meanwhile, is a shelf fungus, if I remember correctly. Its form factor is more of a thin, crinkly sheet, black on top and white/cream on the underside. It rehyrates into slippery sheets that are normally julienned to make thin, jelly-tough, wobbly matchsticks. If I forget to rehydrate my black fungus ahead of time, I just crumble it and mix it into the liquid component of whatever I'm cooking. ^Back

I just got back from vacation and am trying to get back into the swing of things at home. First order of business was, of course, to sort out groceries and some sort of meal plan for the week. I decided to consult a handful of Cook's Illustrated magazines for inspiration.

I gravitated toward this recipe because it reminds me of one of my favourite eggplant dishes: fish-fragrant eggplant. As it turns out, that very dish was the inspiration for the flavours in this one! Now, recipe as written, I didn't find this quite as tasty as fish-fragrant eggplant. It is a good deal easier and healthier though (no frying the eggplant first). And I think the slightly lacking flavour should be easy enough to remedy.

For now I've just added a little miso paste and some reconstituted dried mushrooms to try to bump up the umami factor. In future I would soak the mushrooms first and then use the soaking liquid as the base for the sauce. I'd also double the scallions. (I really like scallions!) I'd probably bump up the garlic a little too. I've rewritten the recipe below to reflect these changes.

Braised Eggplant with Soy, Garlic, and Ginger

Adapted from Cook's Country September/October 2019

Ingredients

• 12 dried black mushrooms
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 4 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. doubanjiang/toban djan/Asian broad bean chili paste
• 1 tsp. white miso paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch/corn flour
• ~1kg eggplants¹
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2-4 scallions, sliced thin

Directions

1. Pour boiling water over mushrooms and let stand for at least 10 minutes.
2. Trim 1cm from top and bottom of each eggplant. Halve crosswise. Cut each half lengthwise into two pieces. Cut each piece into 2cm wedges. Set aside.
3. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid, and remove stems. Discard mushroom stems. Slice caps thin and set aside.
4. Combine mushroom soaking water, wine, soy sauces, sugar, chili paste, miso pate, and cornstarch and whisk until sugar has dissolved.
5. Heat large pan over medium heat and add canola oil.
6. Add garlic and ginger paste to hot oil and cook for 30 seconds.
7. Add eggplant wedges and sliced mushrooms to pan.
8. Pour sauce over contents of pan and increase heat to high.
9. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
10. Uncover and cook, occasionally swirling pan, for an additional 10-15 minutes.
11. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle sliced scallions on top.
12. Serve over rice².

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¹ Either Italian or Asian eggplants will work for this. Avoid very large eggplants as they will tend to disintegrate during cooking. ^Back
2 I seasoned my rice with black peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon. For 2 c. of (uncooked) brown rice I added 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, and ~half a dozen black peppercorns as well as a tsp. or so of ghee. I think a few greens probably wouldn't've gone amiss either, but I didn't think of it 'til just now. I think black kale or maybe even a bit of gai lan would probably work well. ^Back

Last week kind of got away from me. I realized on Thursday evening that I'd forgotten to cancel my HelloFresh box for this week. I'm sort of cringing at the extra expense, but I suppose it's not that bad and it does save me from having to worry too much about meal planning this week.

Monday night was teriyaki chicken with bok choy and coconut rice. The chicken and bok choy were excellent. I'm not 100% sold on the coconut rice as the substrate though. The rice was nice, but it just felt somewhat flat and... a bit of a let-down next to the tasty teriyaki. I think it would've been improved by the addition of peas. And using a nice long-grain brown rice would've been my preference over the white basmati in this case. If I were going to do this again, I think I'd try adding some kaffir lime leaves and a couple handfulls of frozen peas to the rice during cooking. And maybe a few whole peppercorns as well. Either that, or switch it up completely and do a fried rice with salt, pepper, onion, garlic, Szechuan peppercorns, scallions, sesame oil, and maybe a few eggs. (I might toss a few peas into the fried rice as well. I really like peas with rice.)

Teriyaki Chicken

Slightly adapted from HelloFresh

Ingredients

Stir-Fry

• 450g Shanghai bok choy^{1, 2}
• 680g chicken tenders (or skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut in half horizontally then cut vertically into short strips)
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 c. soy sauce³
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. grated ginger (or 1 Tbsp. ginger paste)
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (corn flour)
• 1/4 c. honey⁴
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 50-60g roasted cashews, chopped

Rice

• 1 (160mL) can coconut milk
• 2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. Basmati rice
• 4-5 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
• 6-8 whole black peppercorns (optional)
• 1 c. fresh or frozen peas (optional)

Directions

Stir-Fry

1. Wash the bok choy and separate the leafy bits from the stems.
2. Cut into 2-3cm chunks, keeping the celery-like stems separate from the spinach-y leaves. Set aside.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Combine the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, honey, and water to make the sauce. Set aside.
5. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat.
6. Add oil to pan followed by chicken. Cook to internal temp of 165°F (74°C). Cook time will vary depending on thickness of pieces. For tenders, it should take 4-5 minutes.
7. Add bok choy stems to pan and cook for 1-2 minutes⁵
8. Add sauce and bok choy leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Rice

1. Combine coconut milk with water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and add rice.
3. If using, stir in lime leaves and black peppercorns along with rice.
4. Cover and simmer for 12-14 minutes.
5. If peas are frozen, allow them to thaw while rice cooks.
6. When rice is done, fluff with fork and toss in peas.
7. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

Assembly

1. Put some rice in a bowl and top with stir-fry.
2. Garnish with cashews.

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¹ I honestly felt like this recipe could've used a lot more greens. Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to double the vegetable quantity. If you do this, you might want to scale up the sauce slightly. ^Back
2 There are lots of different vegetables that will work here: bok choy, Shanghai bok choy, broccoli rabe, gai lan... Kale would probably work decently well too. If you're not looking to incorporate the veggies into the stir-fry itself, steamed broccoli makes a lovely side. ^Back
3 The soy sauce that came with the meal kit seemed a bit darker and more viscous than your typical light soy, but it wasn't anywhere near dark soy levels. If I were making this again, I think I'd try mixing 3 Tbsp. light soy with 1 Tbsp. dark soy. In a pinch, I think using all light soy would work fine though. ^Back
4 The recipe card says "3 Tbsp." for the honey, but we got two 30mL jars and I just put all of it in when making the sauce. I was happy with the results -- and the Kidlet loved it! -- so I'd probably just do it the same way again next time. That said, if you prefer a less sweet sauce, cut the honey back to 2 or 3 Tbsp. and see how it tastes. ^Back
5 HelloFresh has you cook the chicken in two batches and then remove it from the pan before cooking the bok choy. I don't like having to remove things from the pan once they go in and I have a very large pan, so I just did the chicken all at once and left it in the pan. It's probably technically overcooked, but it was tasty and didn't seem dry or anything, so I'm not too worried about it. ^Back

Okonomiyaki (Cabbage Pancakes)

I've been in a bit of a recipe rut lately. But, in looking for inspiration on what to do with the head of cabbage languishing in my fridge, I found a great new (to me) blog! Just taking a quick look through the "vegetarian" category has already done a lot to restore my kitchen enthusiasm. I think I may try to Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms and Kale Mashed Potatoes over the weekend. And in the meantime, the okonomiyaki recipe was a nice way to use up some of the cabbage.

When I've made okonomiyaki before they've honestly been mostly pancake with a few veggies mixed into the batter. Tasty, but definitely very different from this incarnation that is 90% cabbage with a little carrot and green onion thrown in for flavour and just barely enough batter to (mostly) hold it all together.

These are fine served on their own with a little soy sauce or sri racha mayo, but if you want to round out the meal a bit, I suggest serving them with sautéed mushrooms and/or sliced SPAM. I actually stumbled across some spicy Szechuan SPAM at the grocery store a few weeks ago, so I busted out a tin of that to complement the vegetably pancakes. Obviously, if you're trying to keep things vegetarian, mushrooms would be the better choice. Cremini mushrooms cooked in a little garlic, dark soy sauce, and miso paste would be lovely as an accompaniment. King oyster mushrooms cooked in a teriyaki sauce or simply fried in butter would also work well. Or perhaps even steamed black mushrooms. You have a lot of options, really.

Okonomiyaki

From Budget Byte$

Ingredients

• 1/2 head of cabbage (~4-5 cups), shredded
• 1-2 carrots, grated
• 3 scallions/green onions, sliced
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• ~1 c. flour (hard or soft)

Directions

1. Prep all your veggies, combine, and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients, adding flour 1/4 c. at a time. You may not need all the flour. Just keep whisking it in 'til the batter looks like a nice consistency.
3. Add the batter to the veggies and stir to coat and combine well.
4. Spoon a generous dollop of the mixture into a well-oiled pan and press to flatten into a pancake. Cook over medium-low to medium heat (depending on your range).
5. Once the underside is browned to your liking, flip the pancake and cook the other side.
6. Repeat with remaining mixture.
7. Serve with your choice of toppings and accompaniments: more scallions, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sri racha mayo, mushrooms, SPAM, etc.

Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Tofu

I've been perusing No Meat Athlete for recipe ideas. Specifically high-protein meals that are meat-free.

They say over and over again that it's easy to get enough protein on a vegetarian or vegan diet. They say you probably don't need as much as you think you do. And that's probably true for a lot of people in a lot of situations. For me though, it seems like I really do need quite a bit of protein. Even if you ignore anything to do with lifestyle or weight or caloric intake or official recommendations... I can now verify that I feel much better and more energetic when I regularly get ~150g of protein per day.

I talked to a dietitian (very briefly in passing, not a proper appointment) and she said that my 1g of protein/lb. of body weight sounded way high and that the actual recommendation is 0.8g/kg (but she thinks that's too low). She said that she thought 1g/kg should be plenty.

And 1g/kg is plenty... for non-athletes. (Not that I consider myself an athlete, but I would like to get back into strength training and I want to have the calories and the protein available to do that. Plus, I'd really like to not be tired all the time.) No Meat Athlete actually provides the recommended protein intake for various lifestyles/types of athletes:
Non-athletes - 0.8g/kg
Athletes (cardio/endurance) - 1.2-1.4g/kg
Athletes (strength) - 1.4-1.8g/kg

And there it is. I can now see where the 1g/lb. recommendation comes from in the lifting community. They take the upper number go "that's basically 2g/kg and 1kg is basically 2 lbs., so that works out to 1g/lb!" So, while I may not need the 1g/lb. I had been trying for, 1g/kg definitely seems too low for what I want to do. And, as noted, I just feel better, plain and simple, when I get lots of protein.

Given that I'm trying to run a slight caloric deficit right now and cut out meat and get back into strength training, I'm actually finding that it's not that easy to get enough protein every day. Especially since, as much as I want to eat good healthy food, I do like to have a bit of a treat every once in a while. But as soon as I do that, my macro balance goes out the window for the day! It's all a bit frustrating.

Anyway, now that I've dumped all of my dietary frustration onto the page, I'll get on with the recipe!

Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Tofu
Adapted from No Meat Athlete
1 (350g) package extra firm tofu
200g snow peas, trimmed
50g pea shoots (optional)
230g soba noodles
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 c. peanut flour
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. lite coconut milk
1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (optional)
1 carrot, grated (optional)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained (optional)
sriracha, to serve

1. Cut the tofu in half, pat it dry, then wrap in at least two layers of paper towel and place a pan or plate on top to press excess moisture out. Let press for 15 minutes.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Toss in the snow peas and pea shoots. Cook for 30 seconds, then immediately remove from water and set aside.
3. Add the soba noodles to the boiling water. Cook according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.
4. Cube the tofu.
5. Heat oil over medium heat and cook tofu until browned on all sides.
6. While tofu is cooking, combine peanut flour, water, coconut milk, curry paste, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, and fish sauce (if using).
7. Whisk sauce until well blended and, once tofu is done, reduce heat to low and pour sauce over.
8. Allow sauce and tofu to cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the carrot and water chestnuts.
9. After a minute or so, stir in the snow peas, pea shoots, and noodles.
10. Serve with sriracha and/or lime wedges.

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Adaptations

Vegan Version

1 (350g) package extra firm tofu
200g snow peas, trimmed
50g pea shoots (optional)
230g soba noodles
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 c. peanut flour
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. lite coconut milk
1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. jaggery
1 carrot, grated (optional)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained (optional)
sriracha, to serve

Make sure to double-check the ingredients on your curry paste (or make your own). My grocery store recently started carrying a runnier, more saucy "red curry paste" that has fish sauce and water (among other things) added to it.

Asian Noodle Salad

This salad seemed like a great idea to toss together for dinner. It would use up a bunch of the veggies we had on hand and it sounded tasty and relatively quick and easy to make. While all of these things were true, I have some questions about their portioning.

The recipe says "serves 6". I argue that, recipe as written, this salad would serve at least a dozen, possibly closer to twenty! It was not actually physically possible to make this one "recipe as written" because I ran out of room! I did use 1.5x as many noodles as the original recipe called for, but I only put in 1/4 the cabbage, 2/3 the cucumber, and none of the scallions, kale, or peanuts. I have no idea how you're actually supposed to construct or mix this salad if you actually use the full amounts of everything!

I will try to provide instructions and proportions for a slightly more practical version of this salad below. (I've also tweaked the dressing slightly as I wasn't entirely happy with the original version.)

Asian Noodle Salad
Adapted from Food Network/Pioneer Woman
200g whole wheat or multi-grain spaghetti
100g bean sprouts
100g julienne carrots
1 large bell pepper (or 100g baby bell peppers), thinly sliced
1 English cucumbers, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 scallions, sliced
2-4 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, shredded
1/2 bunch of kale, shredded
1/2 c. peanuts, chopped
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed and fried (optional)

Dressing
1/4 c. olive oil
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp. garlic paste
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. sriracha
1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. During the last minute of cooking, add the bean sprouts.
3. Drain noodles and bean sprouts and rinse with cold water to stop cooking and prevent sticking.
4. Add remaining salad ingredients and toss.
5. Whisk together all dressing ingredients.
6. Pour dressing over salad and toss again.
7. Optionally, serve topped with fried onions.

I think this salad would be really good with a bit of fried extra-firm tofu tossed in as well. I feel like having that bit of extra protein would help balance it out and make it a more complete meal.

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Adaptations

Vegetarian Version

This is basically a vegetarian dish already. Just make sure to use vegetarian "oyster" sauce (actually made from mushrooms).

Vegan Version

Asian Noodle Salad
Adapted from Food Network/Pioneer Woman
200g whole wheat or multi-grain spaghetti
100g bean sprouts
100g julienne carrots
1 large bell pepper (or 100g baby bell peppers), thinly sliced
1 English cucumbers, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 scallions, sliced
2-4 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, shredded
1/2 bunch of kale, shredded
1/2 c. peanuts, chopped
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed and fried (optional)

Dressing
1/4 c. olive oil
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. firmly packed vegan brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp. garlic paste
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. sriracha
1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine

Gluten-Free Version

Asian Noodle Salad
Adapted from Food Network/Pioneer Woman
200g brown rice spaghetti
100g bean sprouts
100g julienne carrots
1 large bell pepper (or 100g baby bell peppers), thinly sliced
1 English cucumbers, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 scallions, sliced
2-4 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, shredded
1/2 bunch of kale, shredded
1/2 c. peanuts, chopped
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed and fried (optional)

Dressing
1/4 c. olive oil
3 Tbsp. gluten-free tamari or soy sauce
2 Tbsp. wheat-free oyster sauce (such as Panda Brand Green Label)
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp. garlic paste
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. sriracha
1 Tbsp. dry sherry

FODMAP-Friendly Version

Asian Noodle Salad
Adapted from Food Network/Pioneer Woman
200g brown rice spaghetti
100g bean sprouts
100g julienne carrots
1 large bell pepper (or 100g baby bell peppers), thinly sliced
1 English cucumbers, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
3 scallions, green parts only, sliced
2-4 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 head of green or red cabbage, shredded
1/2 bunch of kale, shredded
1/2 c. peanuts, chopped
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed and fried (optional)

Dressing
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. garlic-infused oil
3 Tbsp. c. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. c. oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine

Fish-Fragrant Eggplant & Ninja Ramen

My former landlady used to make this delicious eggplant dish. I'm not generally a fan of eggplant, but this stuff was delicious. It was full of garlic and oil and I did ask her how to make it, but her description was somewhat vague. When I came across a recipe for "fish-fragrant eggplant" in a Chinese cooking thread online, I flagged it as a likely candidate. It's not quite the same, but it is nearly as delicious as my landlady's mystery garlic eggplant.

I'm honestly not sure why it's called "fish-fragrant" as it contains neither fish nor even fish sauce, but it certainly is a tasty way to prepare eggplant!

Fish-Fragrant Eggplant
5 Chinese eggplants
1 c. peanut oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. Sichuan chile-bean paste
1 Tbsp. minced ginger
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. corn starch mixed with 1 Tbsp. cold water
1 1/2 tsp. Chinese black vinegar
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. sesame oil

1. Peel the eggplants and chop into chunks (I went for ~1" chunks). Mince garlic and ginger and chop the green onion. Ready the stock and all the various sauces, vinegar, corn starch slurry, etc.
2. Heat up the wok. Add the peanut oil and fry the eggplant in small batches. Remove eggplant to paper towel to drain.
3. If more than 2 Tbsp. of oil is left in the wok after frying the eggplant, pour out the excess oil.
4. Reheat the oil, if necessary, and ad the chile-bean paste and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
5. Add garlic and ginger and fry for another 30-60 seconds.
6. Add chicken stock, sugar, and soy sauce and stir to combine.
7. Add fried eggplant and allow to simmer in sauce for several minutes.
8. Stir in corn starch slurry and cook until sauce thickens.
9. Add black vinegar and green onion. Cook, stirring, until onion is no longer raw.
10. Adjust seasoning to taste. Add more salt or sugar as desired and drizzle with sesame oil to serve.

I found this very tasty as it was. That said, I don't think I could resist trying out a few tweaks the next time I make it. (And there will definitely be a next time!) I think I'd try increasing the chile-bean paste to 2 Tbsp. next time. And I'd like to try adding 1 tsp. of dark soy sauce as well.

TF actually ended up taking over the cooking for the "ninja ramen". It is yet another recipe off of the Goons with Spoons wiki. And one that I've been meaning to try for quite a while at that.

Since the "recipe" doesn't list any quantities or proportions, it took a little trial-and-error to get the flavour right. We also had to make a substitution since I'd forgotten that we were all out of sambal oelek. Here's what we ended up using for our ninja ramen.

Ninja Ramen
2 pkg. ramen
3 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. Sichuan chile-bean paste
2 cloves garlic
12 white button mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
5 green onions, chopped

Verdict: Nice flavour, but not enough of a step up from my favourite instant ramen preparations to warrant the extra effort, I think.