I always try to have a bunch of broccoli in the fridge so that I can have a green vegetable everyday. The other day I realized I had two bunches forgetting that I already had one. I was actually really excited. If there isn't a dark green veg in my fridge I have anxiety. Today is the first day of curfew, and I had to work so I am thankful that I stocked up last week. The shelves are sometimes bare or have rotten veggies and fruits.
I also picked up a package of wide rice noodles. The two were now going to get married in my kitchen. It had become time again to get the south Asian inspired thing going. I suppose you could almost call it pad Thai but this was not quite traditional. When you live in Canada in winter, in an apocalypse, you end up doing whatever with what you have at the time.
I usually keep the broccoli stem. In this case I peeled the tough skin off and julienned it and some carrots as well. I pre streamed the broccoli heads just a little bit, keeping the color.
I added half a brick of tofu that was in my freezer that I had defrosted. A store down the street has organic tofu for the best price in town. I usually stock up and freeze it. The only problem is that we end up consuming too much of it. I have mixed feelings about it. Tofu is a controversial food these days, especially in the plant based world. Along with that I added 1 carrot, 2 broccoli stems, 1 onion diced, 1 shallot, 1 cup chopped oyster mushrooms, 4 cloves garlic, 3 dried chilies, bunch of cilantro stems minced 1 tablespoon minced ginger.
Normally I like medium wide rice noodles but this day I thought I would go for the big guns and get the widest ones.
The sauce was made with approximately1/2 cup tamari (soy sauce), 1 tablespoon miso paste, 1 tablespoon tamarind paste, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 2 tablespoons agave nectar, 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, squeeze of lime juice, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
In a wok I sauteed the onion, garlic, then the rest of the fresh items.
The broccoli was added right at the very end. It was blanched first. I like to have it as green as possible. I decided to throw in some sweet preserved radish at the end because I had some.
The rice noodles were soaked in warm water until they were soft but not too soft. I stopped the cooking by rinsing in cold water and cooled them off. When the mix was done I added the noodles and the sauce and mixed up. I don't know if this would have been the way a proper Asian cook would have done it but it worked for me.
I had black and white sesame seeds so I sprinkled some on as well as chopped roasted peanuts, cilantro and green onions.
And again I didn't achieve the spice level that I like. This was due to me not getting to Chinatown where the hot peppers are. I will have to get there soon.
Don't get me wrong, it was still spicy for someone who doesn't tolerate spicy.
Have a good day everyone!
Haha. We do have to make do in an apocalypse, right? And eat well as well. Yum. I like lots of fresh chilli on mine too.
I love chilli lovers haha.