Thursday, July 08, 2010

Vegetarian Viet-American Stir Fry with Vermicelli



I had a hankering for Vietnamese food today. Maybe it's the heat. Unfortunately,even though you can't swing a dead sea gull on the North Shore without hitting a Chinese/Sushi or Thai place, Vietnamese cuisine is tough to find (one notable exception is Sugar Cane in Peabody). So, I raided the pantry and scraped together enough ingredients to make a reasonable facsimile of rice noodles with vegetables and tofu. I call it Viet-American since yellow squash and portabella mushrooms are North American.

Ingredients

1/2 package extra-firm tofu, cut into oblong pieces and drained on some paper towels
1 sweet red pepper diced into medium pieces
1 or 2 portabella mushroom caps, cut into strips
1 medium yellow squash cut into 1/2 inch rounds
2 green onions, diced
1 clove crushed garlic (if desired)
2-3 tbs Canola oil for frying the tofu and vegetables
1 cube vegetarian bouillon (try Rapunzel from Whole Foods)
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon of your favorite kind of curry paste. (I used red curry)
soy sauce (to taste)
Sriracha hot sauce (to taste)
Fresh basil and cilantro leaves to taste
1 package "rice stick" vermicelli
(It makes such a mess to try and separate them while dry that I tossed the whole package in a big pot of boiling water. After taking them out after 3 minutes, I rinsed them in cool water and just took what I needed and put the rest in the refrigerator for later.)

The Steps

Step 1: Heat a few tablespoons of oil in the wok until hot but not smoking then put in the drained tofu and fry until golden on all sides.

Step 2: Add the vegetables, one type at a time, stir frying in the hot oil until cooked then pushing aside for the next batch.

Step 3: Add garlic if desired and stir in with the vegetables and tofu.

Step 4: Clear the center of the wok and add the water, then the bouillon. Let the bouillon cube dissolve in the boiling water and stir everything together.

Step 5: Season to taste with the curry paste, soy sauce and hot sauce.

Step 6: Add some of the cooked rice vermicelli to a bowl and spoon in the vegetables and tofu along with some of the broth. Garnish with the basil and cilantro and enjoy!
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1 comment:

Unknown said...

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