Broccoli-Tofu Udon with Peanut Sauce

When I lived in rural China, I was shocked to discover that peanut butter didn't exist. Peanuts themselves were plentiful, along with peanut oil, but only in big cities was peanut butter a reasonable grocery list addition. I love peanut butter. My favorite is the kind made from straight up ground, roasted peanuts and salt, but in a pinch I'll take skippy or jiff or the like. In China, I missed not only peanut butter itself but American peanut noodles--the peanut butter and soy sauce-slathered spaghetti dish my parents often threw together on busy school nights. I missed American-Chinese food, and from time to time I tried to recreate it with skippy purchased in the wal-mart three hours away and wheat ramen noodles from my city of Heqing.

Since getting back to the States, I've cooked many American-Chinese kinds of dishes, reconciling my Western palate with the techniques and flavor tendencies I learned in Yunnan. This particular dish is the result of my visit to the Temescal Farmer's Market this morning. I'd been meaning to bike over for awhile, as it's only 10 minutes from my house and runs every Sunday year-round, so I'm glad I finally made it! It's a cute little market with a pleasant, folksy kinda feel. I wandered for a bit and stumbled upon gorgeous broccoli, so I had to pick some up. And when you give an Emily a crown of broccoli... well, it was bound to result in dinner.

As a side note, while the peanut sauce is lovely with this, I think if going for a slightly lighter dish, one could omit it and just dress the tofu/broccoli/noodles with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. Also, don't be intimidated by the number of steps! It's all very, very simple, I promise. And stir-fries are incredibly forgiving.

Ingredients (for tofu)
-1/2 package tofu, drained and pressed and cut into 1 inch cubes
-1 TB peanut or vegetable oil
-1 TB sesame oil
-1 clove garlic, minced
-2 TBL flour
-1/4 cup roasted peanuts, crushed
-1 TB sesame seeds
-1 tsp. salt
-dash ground ginger
-dash cayenne


Ingredients (for broccoli)
-about 2 cups chopped broccoli florets and stems
-1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/4 cup hot water
-1 medium stalk green garlic, chopped (optional-- if you don't have it use more minced garlic)


Ingredients (for noodles/sauce)
-12 oz udon noodles (or rice noodles, or soba, or, frankly, spaghetti-- whatever you have on hand)
-1/3 cup peanut butter (natural and crunchy is best but anything will work)
-1/3 cup hot water
-1 clove garlic, mined
-1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
-1 TB rice vinegar
-2 TB soy sauce
-1 TB sesame oil
-1 tsp salt
-cayenne or chili oil to taste


Procedure
1. Start to cook whatever pasta you're using and leave it alone while you do everything else. 

Tofu just as it's being added-sorry the camera has a yellow tint!

2. Tofu- Just after you've put up the water for pasta, crush the peanuts--I stick them in a plastic bag and whack them with a rolling pin. Mix them on a plate with the flour, sesame seeds, salt, ginger, and cayenne, and then roll the tofu squares around gently so they're at least somewhat coated on all sides. 

Tofu already browned on a couple sides--see the crispiness?

3. Heat a wok or, even better, a wide-bottomed, deep skillet, over medium-high heat. Add the two oils and wait for them to get hot. Cook the garlic for about 30 seconds. Then gently add the tofu, making sure that each chunk makes contact with the bottom of the pan. If you have leftover peanuts from the coating process, you can sprinkle some in or save them for another cooking project. 
4.  Let the tofu sit for a minute or two until the bottom sides begin to crisp, then flip each piece. I use chopsticks for this, but if you have tongs or something that you like better, by all means go for it. Continue to turn the tofu as it browns. When it's nice and crispy, remove it to a plate. Don't clean the wok/pan.
5. Sauce-Make the peanut sauce by combining the sauce ingredients (everything under "noodles/sauce" except for the noodles) in a medium bowl. Amounts here are approximate and made to suit milder tastes than my own, so feel free to add more of anything. I often keep extra chili oil or hot pepper flakes at the table.

4. Broccoli- Add a dash more oil to the wok, if it's dry, let it heat, and then put in the broccoli, ginger, and garlic. Toss around for a minute or two, then add about 1/4 cup of hot water (again, I borrow from the pasta pot) and cover to steam. Give it a stir every minute or so. After about 3 minutes, throw in the green garlic, if using, and give it another couple minutes to cook. I like my broccoli on the crunchy side, but keep it going until it's as soft as you like. 



 5. Turn the heat down to medium low and throw in the tofu, cooked noodles and sauce. Toss around, doing what you can to mix everything together. 

6. Eat up!

Bhangra Burrito

My parents both grew up with mothers who cooked. To be fair, I guess many children of the late 50s did, although not nearly so many turned into parents who cooked for their own kids. My Mom and Dad both did, and I'm grateful.


I associate my grandmothers' California kitchens with cookbooks. Lots of cookbooks. A few years ago, when I was visiting my grandma in Berkeley, The Rebar Modern Food Cookbook caught my eye. Rebar is a restaurant in Victoria that specializes in mostly-veggie, hippie cuisine, and my grandma had visited with her brother some time back.

Grandma, ever indulgent when it comes to her granddaughters, caught me pouring through the cookbook and said I could have it. It's become one of my very favorites. The recipes are imaginative but not weird, fanciful but not fancy (for the most part). A lot of what Rebar does is take staple recipes, like lasagne and cream of broccoli soup, and spin them into exciting variations. There are some awesome desserts as well, both classic and not, and there's a great section detailing methods for "basics" like peanut sauce, salsas, chile paste, and whole wheat pastry.

Rebar has two recipes for burritos. One is a more traditional take with beans and squash and corn. The other hops down to the subcontinent, producing a wrap that's essentially an easily-packaged packet of Indian curry. I made a few small changes to the original recipe to accomodate my family's pantry, but what's below is very close to what's in the book.

Ingredients
-4 garlic cloves
-1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
-1 hot pepper (jalepeno, poblano, whatever you've got)
-1 red pepper
-6 roma tomatoes (I didn't have these, so I used three small tomatoes, plus about a half cup of canned)


-3 TBS vegetable oil
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp ground coriander
-1 tsp sweet paprika
-1/4 tsp. tumeric
-1/2 tsp. (preferably freshly) ground pepper
-1 15-20 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained


-1.5 lbs potatoes, diced (we used russets-- the original called for red)


-1/2 cup cilantro, stemmed and chopped
-1.5 cups spinach or baby spinach, stemmed and sliced into ribbons 
-tortillas or wraps


Procedure
1) Roughly chop garlic, ginger, hot pepper, red pepper, and tomatoes, and put in a food processor until they form a course purée.

2) Put 2 TBS oil in a large pan and heat over medium. Sauté onion with half the salt until translucent, then add the cumin, coriander, paprika, tumeric and pepper. Add the purée from above and simmer 5-10 minute. Add chickpeas and cook another 5-10 minutes.






3)Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 450°F. Toss potatoes with the last TBS of oil and the remaining salt. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast until lightly golden and soft, about 15-20 minutes. Toss potatoes with the chickpea mix. 


4) Take a tortilla and spread spinach ribbons down the center, topped with a bit of cilantro. Spoon on curry, roll up, and place in an oiled baking dish. Repeat until out of filling. We made 6 tortillas, using 6-inch wraps, and had some filling left over. Cover and bake for 20-30 minutes until heated through and a bit crispy. We served ours with a bit of yogurt. Chutney would also be nice.