Tofu, cabbage, capsicum and mushroom stirfry

Today I am sharing a recipe of the stirfry we have been eating every week for the past month or two.  It started when I made myself a stirfry and Sylvia tasted the noodles and decided they were good.  We talked about what vegetables she would like and I made it again a week later.  And the next week.  And on and on and it is still being requested regularly.

I am sharing it here because Sylvia is keen to learn to make it herself and also because there were a few positive comments when I shared a photo a few months back.  Also hands up who noticed that the vegetables are basically the colours of the Suffragettes - purple, green and white?  Sadly by the time it is all cooked, it is a little brown.

 

 

 It is a pretty lazy recipe where I usually just splash in some soy sauce and kejip manis with what veg I have.  This version is one I have been making for Sylvia and tried to measure out some ingredients but still recommend the old taste and adjust flavours towards the end.  And there are days I can't find kejip manis so I splash in more maple syrup.  Sometimes I feel like a little drizzle of sesame oil when I am frying the vegetables.  If I want dinner really quickly sometimes I can't be bothered frying tofu and I add cashews, pre-packaged Japanese marinated tofu or both.

Preparation is important because the stirfry cooks quickly and even when the tofu is frying, I try and turn it (often with tongs) to get even coverage.  I like to slice the cabbage very thinly, to keep the capsicum slightly firm and get some golden hues on the mushrooms as they fry.  I cook it in my cast iron frypan which is a pain to lift, wash and season and probably a bit small but nothing crisps up food like it.  Lastly I cook the sauce until it thickens and clings.  And then we finally reach that satisfying moment of slurping up the slippery salty savoury noodles with added veg and tofu.

More stirfry recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog:
Hal's Stirfry Sauce (gf)
Lo mein (v) 
Matthews delicious tofu (gf, v)
Mee Goreng (v)
Tamarind tempeh with noodles (v)

Tofu, cabbage, capsicum and mushroom stirfry
An original Green Gourmet Giraffe recipe
Serves 3-4

250g tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
seasoning
2-4 tsp neutral oil (like rice bran)
2 cups purple cabbage, finely sliced
1 green capsicum, sliced into batons
3-6 button mushrooms, thickly sliced
400g shelf fresh hokkien noodles
3 tbsp shoyu or soy sauce
1 tbsp kejip manis
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp garlic paste (or finely chopped garlic)
1/4 tsp grated ginger (or chilli sauce)

Make sure everything is chopped and prepared before starting.

Toss the tofu blocks in seasoning.  I sometimes add a little smoked paprika or stock powder for flavour.  Pour 1-2 tsp of oil into cast iron frypan on medium high and fry tofu until golden.  I often use tongs to turn over tofu to make sure it is fried all over.  When it is done, remove from frypan and set aside.

Add another 1-2 tsp oil into the frypan and add cabbage.  Stir frequently for a few minutes.  Then add the capsicum, stir frequently and repeat with mushrooms.  Pile the noodles on top, add seasonings and tofu on top and stir until the noodles soften and the sauce thickens and clings - this should only take a few minutes. Taste to check if you need to adjust flavourings.  Serve hot or heat up leftovers.

NOTES:

• Other vegies could be used, eg onion, carrots, zucchini, corn.
  
• I used garlic paste instead of fresh garlic because there was no decent garlic at supermarket.
• It could be served with rice instead of noodles.
• If I have been out of tofu I have made it without and scattered some toasted cashews on at the end.  The supermarket Japanese marinated tofu works well too.
• The recipe is vegan and can be gluten free if you use gf soy sauce or shoyu and rice noodles.
  

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