Madhu Knits and Cooks

Ten Minute Sichuan Warm Silken Tofu

Serious Eats continues to deliver amazing, weeknight vegan / vegetarian Sichuan options.  The most recent recipe of theirs I have sampled is the Spicy Warm Silken Tofu with Celery and Cilantro Salad.  True to the title of this post, this recipe couldn't be easier to assemble and takes virtually no time, particularly with some additional modifications.

First, grind the Sichuan peppercorns and cumin in either a mortar and pestle or through a fine chop on the cutting board, and then just combine with the other sauce ingredients.  Second, chop the vegetables while the tofu is warming in the microwave, omitting the ice water bath.  Third, top the warm tofu with the sauce and the vegetables, and eat immediately!

In my two or three versions of this dish, I have made some other slight omissions depending on the ingredients in my fridge, e.g., omitting celery or sesame seeds depending on my kitchen.  In any case, the resulting output has been fantastic - reminds me a lot of the Xi'an Famous Foods Chang-an Spicy Tofu, which I love.  

This is definitely comfort food at it's finest - warm tofu; spicy, complex sauce; and nice freshness from the cilantro, scallions and celery.

Ten Minute Vegan Dan Dan Noodles!

I have to admit that I've taken some liberties with this fantastic Serious Eats Vegan Dan Dan Noodles recipe.  Some are purposeful to reduce the time required to make these amazing, spicy noodles that are a restaurant favorite, and others are inadvertent, e.g., I just don't have the required ingredient in my pantry.  Regardless of these changes though, this recipe produces an amazing meal in approx. 10 minutes!

The first set of modifications I've made is to eliminate cooking from this recipe, except for boiling the noodles.  So while the water comes to a boil to prepare the noodles, I simply mix together the sauce ingredients.

I've omitted the cooked mushrooms to customize to personalize to my taste, and I have to date omitted the Sichuan pickled vegetables simply because I forgot to get them at the store.  I hope to pick some up though at some point, so will report back if this requires me to quickly saute some of the sauce ingredients v. just mixing them together.

The second time I made this dish, I also reduced the roasted chili oil by approx. 1 tablespoon because I found the initial chile proportions to be too spicy (and I love spice!).  I also reduced the amount of noodle cooking water I put in the sauce to approx. 1/3 so that it wouldn't be thin.

After the sauce is complete, simply stir it with the cooked noodles, garnish and serve!  Really couldn't be an easier or cheaper recipe!