Year of the Noodle: Week 42

I didn’t name this one.  I guess Slurp-tastic was the best way to describe this not-quite-broth-not-quite-sauce thing going here.

It’s a little disorienting.  Should it go on a plate or in a bowl?  Do it eat it with a fork?  A spoon?  Chopsticks?

I settled on chopsticks, followed by a soup spoon.  I am not convinced that was the best choice, but it did get noodles into my mouth.

This photo makes the noodles look like a dried up Pasta Roni dish with no slurpyness in sight.  I let the pasta sit for too long and it no longer looked pretty.  Sigh.  Sometimes I am not giving my A game.

On that same vein, I forgot to pick up tofu and had to make mine tofu-free.  I think if I did add tofu it would need to be preseasoned.  The broth/sauce/whatever doesn’t seem strong enough in flavor to bring tofu to life.  Just a tad milder than I would have liked, but I suppose this would make a good light lunch.

10 more noodle dishes to go!

Ingredients

4 ounces thin, dried pasta
1 cup coconut milk (light is fine)
1 tablespoon green or yellow curry paste
1 1/2 cups lightly flavored vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon salt (more or less depending on the saltiness of your broth)
6 ounces tofu, cut into small cubes or pieces
1/4 cup chives, minced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped
pinch of crushed red chile peppers

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. This is eventually going to be the pot you cook the pasta in.

In a separate large, thick-bottomed pot, bring 1/4 cup of the coconut milk to a simmer, mash and stir the curry paste into the coconut milk so there are no lumps. Now add the rest of the coconut milk and the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the tofu. Taste and decide if you need to add more curry paste or salt – if you do want to add more curry paste at this point, make a slurry by combining the additional curry paste and a bit of the broth, working any lumps out – add this to the pot.

Back at the pasta pot, salt the water generously and cook the pasta per package instructions. Drain.

Just before serving stir the chives, cilantro, and basil into the curry pot. To serve, place a nice helping of noodles in the center of each bowl and finish with a ladle of the curry and tofu along with a tiny pinch of crushed red chile peppers.

Source: 101 Cookbooks