Dinner Tuesday 13 November 2007 - Tofu Red Curry

Tofu Red Curry
1 small onion (about 115g)
1 heaped tablespoon Red Curry Paste
25g creamed coconut block
200ml water
100g fried tofu
100g baby corn
100g sugar snap peas
1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce (Nuoc Mam)
40g spring onions, slivered
handful fresh coriander leaves
50g rice noodles, cooked

Spray a non-stick wok with a little flavourless oil and stir fry the onion until soft. Add the red curry paste and fry for another 30 seconds or so, until fragrant. Add the water and coconut cream and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the tofu, and baby corn and cook for 3 or 4 minutes.

Next add the sugar snap peas, sugar & fish sauce. Cook until the sugar snaps are just done (they only take a minute or so), then add the spring onions & coriander and serve over the cooked rice noodles.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 662.9
Carbohydrate (g) 74.9
Protein (g) 29.4
Fat (g) 27.6
Fibre (g) 15.5

If I am going to add tofu to a stir fry or curry and I want it to maintain its shape, I wrap it up in paper towels, put it between two plates and weight it with a can or two to squeeze out the excess water.

Then I fry it in a non-stick pan with a spritz of flavourless oil. Fry on either side until lightly browned then cool and cut into cubes.

Getting a lot of the water out of it by draining and slow frying it gives it a whole different texture.

Also handy to do it this way when you want to marinate it - it helps it keep its shape without adding the extra calories of deep frying.

Deep freezing it and then defrosting it before use also changes the texture and makes it firmer.