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