Thursday 6 July 2017

Fried rice with tofu scramble

I don't think I went to a Chinese restaurant until I was in my teens but I do remember my mum making fried rice regularly as a kid.  I now make my own fried rice regularly.  It is great comfort food.  Unlike my mum, I have never added egg but I as fascinated to recently find a recipe for a tofu scramble in fried rice.  It was one of those moments when the world suddenly made sense.

As a child I never liked eggs.  As an adult I have embraced tofu as a favourite food.  Those who read the blog regularly will know how much we love tofu bacon in our house.  In fact it is really good in fried rice.  But what was a revelation of this recipe was the idea of mashing up the tofu with a potato masher.  It give the tofu exactly the texture of the egg my mum used to scramble for her fried rice.  And the turmeric gives it colour.

In fact this fried rice is the closest I have found to traditional egg in fried rice.  My only quibble is that the turmeric colours the rice a little as well as the tofu so you don't get quite as much of the yellow egg on white rice effect.

One of my joys about this fried rice is that even Sylvia eats it.  Mind you, I have made it a few times and at first she was not keen.  After a few nights of having it given to her for dinner she has come round to it and is now eating the whole bowl of it.

Speaking of kids, I was gobsmacked the other night while watching Janet King on the telly to see that when the main character tells her kids to go to bed, they take themselves off and are asleep within 5 minutes.  This would never happen in my house.  However, it made me a little paranoid that everyone else has little angels at bedtime.  I was relieved to talk to other parents and find that they found this as unlikely as me.

Putting kids to bed is not fun but at least kids are endlessly amusing.  My favourite comment from Sylvia lately was when I was off to work and told her I was off to save the world.  "No you are going to improve the world," she told me seriously.  I also was amused that she asked me recently if I wanted an obtuse or acute piece of pizza.  (That means angles, for those who have forgotten their maths.)  And at the end of term I found myself cutting up strawberries for her to take to school to feed to bugs that were living the "mini beasts hotel" she had made as a class project.

My vision is now to make an Asian feast with the fried rice at the centre.  I decided to make a miso eggplant side dish to go with it.  This was a disaster.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, with perhaps a bit less eggplant, and the sauce ended up being an overwhelming sludge with too much miso.  I will try again with less miso.

I can see much more of this fried rice with tofu scramble in our lives.  But there is no need to go fancy.  A few vegies simply stir fried with this fried rice will make a most excellent meal.  Of if you are busy and/or lazy, the fried rice is just fine by itself.

I am sending this fried rice to Meat Free Mondays and to Eat Your Greens.

More fried rice recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Fried rice with tofu bacon (gf, v)
Fried rice with pineapple and cashews (gf, v)
Portuguese fried rice (gf, v)
'Raw' mock fried rice (cauliflower salad) (gf, v)

Fried rice with tofu scramble
Adapted from Kitchen Treaty
Serves 4-6

250g firm tofu
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 carrot, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp ginger
3-4 cups cold cooked basmati
1 cup peas
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
to serve, chopped spring onion, tofu bacon (optional)

Mash the tofu on a chopping board using a potato masher.  You might need a knife to cut any large pieces (or just use the egg flip when tofu is in the pan).  Set aside.

Fry carrot for a few minutes in oil until softened.  Stir in garlic for a minute and then add tofu, smoked paprika, turmeric and ginger.  Fry for a few minutes until spices are mixed through,  Stir in rice, peas and 1 tbsp tamari.  Fry for a few minutes until warmed through.  Add extra tamari if desired.

Serve warm with spring onion and tofu bacon, if desired.

NOTES: turmeric is important for colour, you could use more ginger or fresh ginger but this amount suits us, and day old leftover rice is best (I sometimes freeze rice to be ready for fried rice when I need it).

On the Stereo:
The best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

17 comments:

  1. I know I would totally love this dish! I've made something kind of similar and added kimchi for a little hot kick (but I know you're not into too much spiciness). :)
    Sylvia is so funny. I haven't thought of obtuse angles since geometry class when I was 15!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mary Ellen - the ideal of spicy kimchi does not seem for me in this - though I remember a lovely meal out with a kimchi sauce that made me think I should be more open to it. And yes the angles made me laugh too because it does not come across my radar these days either.

      Delete
  2. Fried rice comfort food heaven as far as I'm concerned - I can eat my way through a massive bowl without thinking. It's always amazing how something with relatively simple ingredients can turn out so deliciously.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joey - even though I visualise lots of side dishes with it, I can just eat the stuff plain by the bowlful easily

      Delete
  3. Agreed that fried rice is a most excellent comfort food- your version looks delicious. I never thought of adding turmeric for color.

    Sylvia is so cute and funny :) My daughter needs her dad to sit with her and talk to her as she falls asleep- and he is happy to do it for 30-45 minutes!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nupur - your daughter is lucky to have a patient dad - Sylvia goes in and out of good sleeping patterns so we sometimes sit with her when she is not sleeping.

      Delete
  4. Tofu scramble and fried rice... dream match! x

    http://www.mimazine.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mimi - yep why did it take my so long to discover this!

      Delete
  5. I love fried rice! When I was growing up my grandma would make a version with spring onion, cucumber and egg - just salt for seasoning and nothing else. It was the best! I do love a good tofu crumble though. And Edamame goes really well in fried rice too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Veg Dreams - I've never had cucumber in fried rice - it is not a veg I ever eat hot though I guess you don't cook it much - but I do love some edamame in fried rice

      Delete
  6. This looks delish - I'd happily tuck into Sylvia's share. At least Sylvia thinks you will improve the world!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cakelaw - yes though I suspect she doesn't think I am doing this with my fried rice :-)

      Delete
  7. It sounds as though Sylvia is growing up really fast and she is clearly very smart.
    Fried rice is a childhood favourite of mine (along with Chinese food generally) but as we can't eat soy sauce, we have to make at home to be sure it is not unsafe for us! Love the use of tofu in yours xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kate - if you can't eat soy sauce does that mean no tofu either - and I think fried rice is a good way for kids to try some different flavours because they all seem to love rice (well Sylvia does)

      Delete
  8. Oh that tofu scramble in spicy rice, I would so love to eat this right now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks veg hog - yes I need to make some more!

      Delete
    2. And thank you for sharing with Eat Your Greens!

      Delete

Thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you. Please share your thoughts and questions. Annoyingly the spammers are bombarding me so I have turned on the pesky captcha code (refresh to find an easy one if you don't like the first one)