This is another recipe from the NYT cooking app by Ali Slagle. I loved it because not only was it delicious, it only uses a few ingredients and you can throw it together in a few minutes. You can google the name and find several iterations online.
I made this with a recipe from the World of Vegan website by Michelle Cehn & Toni Okamoto.
I am not a rabid fan of tofu but over the years I’ve come to appreciate healthier eating and plant based foods certainly seem to be the answer to at least some of the food scarcity issues our world is facing. So I’ve been experimenting with different ways of cooking with tofu.
At first I simply pressed the tofu for a half hour before cooking, weighing it down with a cast iron pan or other heavy kitchen item. I found that even extra-firm tofu disintegrated no matter how delicately I handled it plus the pressing process itself often left me with a deconstructed mess. Then a friend told me about freezing the tofu then thawing and pressing it and although that produced a better result, the tofu still crumbled. Plus it required advanced planning and I often forgot to remove the tofu from the freezer for thawing. So I decided to try a tofu press.
I bought the Tofuture Tofu Press for $26 on Amazon and it was a revelation. You put your block of tofu in and let it sit in your fridge for at least 30 minutes although I usually leave it overnight if I remember or in the morning when I think about what I’m making for dinner. The tofu comes through the process firmer, denser, and still in its signature block form and most importantly, much easier to work with.
So back to the recipe…I made my curry with extra carrots and no broccoli because I detest it and it was delicious, spicy but well-balanced with the sweetness of the coconut milk. You can easily moderate the spice by reducing the red pepper flakes or omitting them altogether. The recipe also works with other vegetables like peas and asparagus. You can also use chicken or other meat instead of tofu, of course, and just simmer longer to ensure your meat cooks to your desired temperature.
I made this recipe from the NYT’s cooking app. The recipe is from Kris Yenbamroong as adapted by Alexa Weibel.
If you don’t subscribe to the NYT, you can google the recipe and there are plenty of sites with variations of the dish. I made mine with green beans and dried bird’s eye chile and it had a great kick. You can control the spice level depending on what chile you decide to use or omit it altogether for a tamer version or serve with a chili sauce or paste (like sambal oelek) if spice tolerance varies among your dinner guests. The great thing about this dish is its versatility. You can use any ground meet or meat substitute (like tofu) and other vegetables work well too, like asparagus or broccoli.
I served it with jasmine rice and a crispy fried egg. Delicious!
Musings of a Dragon 