Thai Peanut Tofu
one 15oz firm tofu
1 med-large carrot
1 med onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
dry cilantro
dry ginger powder
dry cayenne pepper
one 5.5oz can of coconut milk
regular soy milk
white vinegar
3-4 servings of short grain sweet brown rice or any kind you like
water, salt, and pepper
tamari or soy sauce
2 scoops of crunchy peanut butter (soup spoon size)
What I do is put my rice and enough water to cover the rice (about a half inch above the rice) in a pot and turn on high uncovered. Cut tofu into nice bite size pieces and put aside. In a separate bowl, mix coconut milk, about 2 teaspoons of vinegar, a fat pinch each of cilantro, ginger powder and cayenne pepper, a couple drops of tamari or soy sauce, some soymilk, and the 2 scoops of peanut butter. I like crunchy but you could use creamy.
Mix all of those ingredients until mixture is somewhat smooth. Then add the tofu and mix it around a little bit (allow it to marinade). Set that aside. By this point your rice is probably boiling and should be covered and turned down to simmer. Slice your onion and garlic and throw into a wok or big frying pan. Then peel your carrot and slice real fine or what I did was keep peeling it to get nice thin slivers.
Now add, in the wok, some olive oil, a teaspoon of vinegar, and salt and pepper to season the onions a bit. Turn the heat on high. Saute the onions and garlic until they are almost transparent. Then add a little bit of soymilk just to give it a little more liquid and let saute for a few minutes more. Add the carrot a little more tamari or soy sauce, and another fat pinch of each cilantro, ginger, and cayenne pepper. Turn your heat down a little and let that saute for about 3-5 minutes. If it starts to become dry add some water. Then add your peanut and tofu mixture to the wok, mix with the carrots and onions and let simmer until you get a nice creamy texture (about 5-10 minutes), mixing every so often so your sauce doesn't burn. Mix with the rice or serve separate. And that's it you should have a great meal. It may sound like a lot of work but it is really simple. Just have fun with it and don't worry about exact measurements. Experimenting is half the fun. Enjoy! Email me with any questions.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
just a side note
olive oil should not be used for frying, it is only safe to heat on low heat to sautee things. the healthy oil turns into health damaging trans-fatty acids which are not metabolized properly by the body. I recommend using coconut oil. palm oil is safe too. I just thought I'd add this since most recipes call for olive oil in frying :)
This is not true--olive oil does not turn to trans fats when you fry with it. The only danger with frying with olive oil is that if the temperature goes above the smoking point, the oil starts to break down and form free radicals--olive oil has a relatively low smoke point, so other oils like peanut oil are a better choice (palm and coconut oil are pretty highly saturated). To make trans fats from vegetable oils, food companies heat the oils in the presence of a nickel catalyst and pressure--you won't be able to reproduce those conditions at home.
So, I thought this was very tasty, but I wouldn't add any more than you need for frying. The oil from the peanut butter is more than enough!! I added frozen veggies as suggested by another reviewer, and I would highly recommend that as well. I will definitely try this again with no added oil to the recipe.
just a side note
olive oil should not be used for frying, it is only safe to heat on low heat to sautee things. the healthy oil turns into health damaging trans-fatty acids which are not metabolized properly by the body. I recommend using coconut oil. palm oil is safe too. I just thought I'd add this since most recipes call for olive oil in frying :)
I might have done something wrong but I couldn't stomach this recipe at all... I made it for my family and we had to throw it all away and cook something else :-[
My husband and I really liked this. I added some frozen veggies and parsley instead of cilantro (as I didn't have cilantro). It turned out quite good and was very easy to make and was very filling.