Edamame and Tofu

I LOVE edamame.  To me, the combination of edamame and tofu is like heaven on a fork (or in this case, chopsticks).  OK, I guess the combination of ice cream and chocolate cake is more heavenly, but if we’re talking savory, there are few things I like more than edamame and tofu

Unfortunately, the boyf tends to shy away from “vegetarian” food.  I think it has to do with bad experiences involving a vegetarian ex-girlfriend.  [Addendum: He likes vegetarian food as long as it’s “good.”  I’ll let him try this and hopefully we can have edamame and tofu on a more regular basis.]

So when the boyf told me he’s working a double this afternoon and tonight, and therefore wouldn’t be home for dinner, I seized the opportunity to make something he wouldn’t really like.  Plus, I needed to make something to bring to work this week for lunch.  After flipping through my newest go-to cookbook, How to Cook Everything, I found an awesome recipe for edamame and tofu with stock and rice noodles.

Yes, that’s my knife.  Yes, it’s pink.  I love it.

I made some adaptations to the recipe, draining my tofu and then sauteeing it in oil and adding in some soy sauce and siracha.  The tofu got nice and crispy, instead of disintegrating into the broth as it probably would have otherwise.  I also added in half a serrano pepper for some kick, although I could have used the whole thing.

Here you go…

Edamame and tofu with stock

(Adapted from How to Cook Everything)

2 tbsp veggie oil

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1/4 c chopped scallion

1 c Dashi (huh?), stock (what kind?  idk.), bean-cooking liquid (what??  Eww.), or 1/4 c soy sauce mixed with 3/4 c water (I chose the water and soy sauce option)

1 carrot, julienned

1/2 snow peas, trimed and julienned

2 c shelled edamame

1 large package of tofu, drained and diced

A couple handfuls of rice noodles

Sautee to tofu in 1 tbsp oil, add in some soy sauce and siracha.  Cook until it’s a little crispy on the outside, or until it’s however you like it 🙂 Set aside.

Let the rice noodles sit in water for 5-30 minutes to soften up.  At least that’s what Mark Bittman said.  I did that and they weren’t soft, so I put them in some boiling water, a la regular noodles.  They got a little mushy (so be careful!), but they tasted great with the edamame and tofu.

Put 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add the ginger, scallion and pepper and cook until scallion is soft.  Add the dashi/stock/bean-cooking-liquid/soy-water and bring to a steady bubble.  Add the carrot, snow peas and edamame.  Cook until beans are tender, about 5-15 minutes.  If you add in the tofu, put it in during the last 5 minutes.  Enjoy!

Side-note: The above photos were shot with my Nikon micro 55mm lens on a D80 body.  I usually use a Tamron SP 24-135mm, but I didn’t like that I couldn’t get really close to the food.  I finally figured out how to get the manual lens to work, and it involves non-stop chimping (chimping: taking a picture with a digital camera and then immediately looking to see how it turned out) because you have no way of knowing whether you have the right shutter speed.  No diagrams in the viewfinder or anything.  But I’m glad I figured it out because this is one of my favorite lenses.  I had to shoot all the photos outside on the porch because I don’t have a tripod (yet) and otherwise everything was blurry.