Sesame Miso Soba with Crispy Tofu – Leels Cooks

 

Let’s pretend summer is here already so we can eat all of the cool, refreshing and light foods, okay? OKAY?!

I’ve also been making a lot of unintentional vegetarian meals lately, not sure why, not unhappy about it though. As long as it’s delicious, no complaints!

Feel free to sub out any of the vegetables with your favourite, and you can also sub the tofu for any other protein you’d prefer. Shredded rotisserie chicken would go very well with this.

What you need:

• 1/2 brick of firm tofu, cubed
• 2 sleeves of soba noodles
• 1/2 cup cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup julienned carrot
• 1/4 cup julienned snow peas
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Tofu Marinade:

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar (if you don’t have seasoned just add 1 tsp sugar)
• 2 tsp gochujang korean red pepper paste (optional)

Sesame Breading:

• 3 tbsp corn flour (white flour can be subbed)
• 1 tbsp sesame seed

Noodle Dressing:

• 2 tbsp red miso paste
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 large glove of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and add cubed tofu. Toss to coat and allow to sit for as long as you can. Overnight would be amazing, but 20 minutes is enough to absorb a good amount of flavour. Gochujang is a sweet, spicy pepper paste that adds a lot of flavour, if you can’t find it though the tofu will still be delicious without.
2. In a large bowl combine flour and sesame seeds. Give the tofu one last toss in the marinade and transfer to flour mixture, toss until coated.
3. In a heavy bottomed fry pan, shallow fry tofu in a neutral flavoured oil until crispy and brown on all sides. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain and cool.

Set aside, this can be enjoyed as is, in many other dishes/stir fries, try preparing it in thin slices for sandwiches even!

Noodle time:

1. Boil soba noodles as per package instructions. Generally you just boil them a few minutes, then rinse with cold water. Be sure not to overcook the noodles, mushy soba is no bueno. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl combine miso paste, ginger, garlic, seasoned rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Whisk to combine.
3. Place noodles, julienned vegetables, green onion, sesame seeds and dressing into a large bowl and gently mix.

You can eat this immediately but it is best to let it sit in the fridge at least 20 minutes for the flavours to meld and veggies to soften slightly in the dressing.

Top with crispy tofu, extra green onion and a sprinkle of more sesame seeds and enjoy!