hotcha! spicy thai noodle soup

After quite a battle, I'm waving the white flag. I'm sick. I've lost my voice and have turned into quite the sad sack. On Thursday night, I realized that we were out of broth. Nothing frozen, no cubes, no cartons, nada. I wanted ramen soup and so I bravely ordered out for some from a local Japanese restaurant. What arrived on my doorstep was an insult to ramen soup everywhere. The broth was murkey in the worst way and stunk to high heaven. I tossed it. Luckily, I had also ordered some passible agadashi tofu so I was able to at least eat dinner. The next day, I picked up a few needed ingredients and decided that a homemade ramen soup was going to be on the menu for dinner. But since I was sick, I was drawn to the kick-ass flavours of chilis, ginger root and lemongrass. Screw the ramen, I was going to make a spicy Thai soup with Japanese noodles instead.

This soup is really easy to make, despite the long list of ingredients. First, you want to infuse the broth with goodness, so I threw in a frozen chicken carcass I had in the freezer along with some very heady, aromatic ingredients: ginger, chili, lemongrass, garlic. If you don't have old bones laying about, skip it! Make it vegan! Don't have fresh chilies? Used dried. And for noodles, I found some fresh Japanese ramen noodles at the grocery store, but you are welcome to use rice noodles, udon, soba or just plain old spaghetti. Just use a long noodle with a bit of chew that gives a good slurp...because with an asian noodle soup, slurping is the best part! Enjoy.

spicy thai noodle soup
1 carton of chicken or veggie broth
1 chicken carcass (optional)
2 hot yellow or red peppers, seeds removed
2 inch knob of ginger, smashed
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 green onions, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed
1 T soy or fish sauce
zest & juice of 1 lime
8 mushrooms, sliced
2 t toasted sesame oil
2 individual packets of Japanese ramen noodles (or other noodle)
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 c shredded chicken, bbq pork or diced tofu
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

In a large pot, bring the broth, carcass (if using), chilis, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, green onions, soy/fish sauce and lime zest to a low, simmering boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain out all the solids and discard while placing the broth back into the pot.

Meanwhile, heat sesame oil in a frying pan and add the sliced mushrooms. Saute until golden and juicy. Add the mushrooms and their liquid into the broth, along with the julienned carrots, ramen noodles and your choice of protein and bring the pot to a low boil for 2 minutes, careful not to overcook the noodles. Add in lime juice, adjust for seasoning and serve. Top bowls with fresh cilantro.

the secret of great tofu: green beans & tofu in a thai coconut sauce

I have finally discovered the secret to really great tofu. I mean, I have no qualms with tofu. I love it and have gotten well past that old teenage habit of flinching when my mom would hide tofu in lasagna. But this weekend, I figured out how to make tofu awesome and it involves just 2 simple steps.

One, press the tofu. I know, I've seen recipes that say, "press tofu", but have casually ignored that step. I thought I it was just something recipes said that I could easily bypass, which I did for years and years. A few times I have frozen tofu and then crumbled it which gives it a different texture but I didn't think that pressing that white block of soy could have such wonderful effects. Boy, was I wrong! And the pressing was easy too....it just required a little forethought. I wrapped the tofu in a clean kitchen towel, set it on a plate and then put my heavy cast iron fry pan over top. I also put my half-full kettle on top of the pan for extra heavy pressing. Worked like a charm. When I cut up the tofu into cubes and then gave it a quick marinade in soy sauce, sesame oil, red chilis, garlic and ginger, all of that liquid got quickly sucked into the tofu. Mmmm, can you say, instant flavour?


The second step for great tofu is tossing the flavour-soaked cubes with cornstarch before frying. This magical step achieves the hard-to-come-by dream of crisp, golden tofu. Just add a bit of oil to a cast iron pan or wok and, whoop, there it is. For years and years, I have just always sauteed my tofu without coating it...trying to let it's own glory shine. Didn't work the way I wanted it to, but throwing the tofu into a bag with a few spoonfuls of cornstarch? Magic, I tell ya!


So what did I do with this golden, dreamy tofu? I set it aside and put some green beans that I had picked up at the market earlier that day to good use. I roasted them quickly with similar flavours that I had marinated the tofu. Meanwhile, I stir fried some red peppers and then when the beans were nice and caramelized and just starting to wrinkle, I popped that into the pan too. Next, I mixed up some spices, a couple of spoonfuls of chili-garlic sauce and half a can of light coconut milk and threw that in as well with a bit of freshly squeezed lime juice near the end. Mix in the tofu and stir to coat, serve on top of brown Jasmine rice and dinner is served.

The thing about this recipe, is that I've gathered it in 3 parts, so if you want to make just the tofu, go ahead and skip the rest. Take that golden fried tofu and sprinkle it with kosher salt and cayenne pepper and man, you've got something good. Same with the green beans. Get them roasted and wrinkly and spicy and they'll make a lovely side dish. Or go whole hog (it doesn't take much time-wise) and mix everything up into one tasty dish.


green beans & tofu in a thai coconut sauce
1 block organic tofu, pressed and cubed
2 T soy sauce
1 t toasted sesame oil
1 t minced ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 t red dried chili flakes
3 - 4 T cornstarch
2 T vegetable oil

Marinate the tofu in the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and dried chili flakes for 15 minutes or until the tofu has soaked up most of the liquid. Reserve any liquid and extra chili, garlic and ginger for the stir fry. Add tofu to a bag containing the cornstarch and toss until cubes are coated. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan or a wok and fry up cubes until golden. Set aside.

1 lb green beans, rinsed & trimmed
2 T soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t ginger, minced
1 t sriracha

Toss the beans in the ingredients and roast on a shallow baking tray for 15 - 20 minutes in a hot oven. Remove from oven once the beans become fragrant and have caramelized and just started to wrinkle.

1 large red pepper, sliced
2 large shallots, diced
1 T vegetable oil
2 T chili garlic sauce
1/2 can of light coconut milk
1/2 t Thai red curry paste (optional)
1 T soy sauce (plus any remaining liquid, etc. from the tofu marinade)
juice of 1/2 lime

In the same pan as you prepared the tofu, heat up oil and add in the red pepper and shallots. Once they get slightly wilted, add in green beans. Stir together the coconut milk, curry paste (if using), chili garlic sauce and soy sauce together and pour over the vegetables. Stir fry until sauce reduces and thickens, add the tofu, stirring everything until well coated with sauce. Squeeze in some lime juice, stir and then serve over rice.

Be a better human: miso-braised cod with soba salad

I love miso for it's patience. It's one of those ingredients that can sit in the back of the fridge and just wait until you remember it's there. It is quiet and strong all at once and I always feel that when I add it to a dish, I'm becoming a much better person because all of those qualities will be transfered onto me inside of a delicious little bundle of pure wholesome goodness.

Last night I had some cod that needed cookin' and some soba noodles that needed some spark. I whipped up my go-to stand by for fish but then changed my mind, added in some sugar and dumped the whole mess over the soba noodles instead. By George, this was delicious! Now that I had an instant salad (after adding in some carrots, peas and cilantro), I turned to the fish and figured that it was high time to pull out that ever-patient miso. Using very similar ingredients to a salad dressing I've made in the past, I just tightened things up and created a saucy paste to smear on the cod. I broiled it then baked it and placed it on top of the soba noodles for presentation points. The results were incredible. Not only did the fish and noodles look amazing and uber-gourmet, but it was super simple to make (no patience required) and healthy to boot.

Miso turning your crank? Check out some tasty miso recipes from my archives:
vegetable stir fry with lemon-miso sauce
curry & miso udon soup
miso gravy
udon soup with grilled salmon
miso soup with ramen noodles

soba salad
3 green onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
2 T minced ginger
1 t toasted sesame oil
juice of 1 large lime
1 T sugar
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 T soy sauce
4 T olive oil
1 pkg of soba noodles, cooked, drained and rinsed under cold water until cool
1 carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
a large handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Add noodles, carrots, peas and cilantro and toss. Serve cool or at room temperature.

miso-glazed cod
3 heaping spoonfuls of white or shiro miso (or any light tasting miso)
2 T cider vinegar
2 T white wine vinegar
2 T honey
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 T soy sauce
3 cod fillets

In a shallow bowl, stir together the miso, vinegars, honey, ginger and soy sauce until you have a thick sauce. Schmear sauce over cod fillets with a back of a spoon and broil at high heat (500 degrees) until golden, about 5 minutes. Turn down the oven to 450 degree oven and put fish on a lower rack, baking until fish is flaky and cooked through, another 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove from oven and serve with soba salad.

simple can be fancy

I find that taking photos for my blog can be quite trying at times. It's either too dark or I can't be bothered to set up for a good shot or my camera batteries have died. Often times, when I don't have a great photo, I'll just scrap my post and wait for the next recipe and photograph that works. But this time, I just couldn't do that. Sure, it was too dark on Friday night when I snapped this soy/ginger/blood orange trout, but the fish was so delicious and easy that I had to write about it. The photo may be lacklustre, but this recipe isn't. It's simple enough that you can put this dish together within 5 minutes, pop it in the oven and the results will be so delicious and impressive that you can serve it to the fanciest dinner guest and get rave reviews. It's that good.

soy, ginger & blood orange baked trout fillets
2 trout (or salmon) fillets
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
2 T Japanese soy sauce
juice & zest of 1 blood orange
1 clove of garlic, grated or finely minced

Preheat oven to 375. In a small oven proof dish, lay fish fillets skin side down. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the soy sauce, orange juice & zest, garlic and ginger. Pour over fish and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until fish is just done. Remove from oven and serve.