#aisan fusion

Crispy Garlic Ginger Tofu Bun Bowl with Black Rice and Mint

This was a delicious experiment. I posted this pic on Instagram and one of my friends asked for the recipe right away. It was the first time I’ve ever made this, so I quickly wrote it out the way I did it. Sometimes when I do experimental cooking, I taste as I go along, and I might forget a step. Hopefully I remembered everything. This recipe was inspired from a picture I saw on Yelp. 

When I was looking for the rice noodles in my pantry, I found a package of black rice, and decided to add some to the dish for color, texture, flavor, and nutrition. I love black rice. It’s nutty, delicious and good for you. Cook black rice according to package directions, this takes about ½ hour of simmering. I cook it in a lot of water in a saucepan, drain and cover it at the end. 

Boil water for noodles. Pour hot water over dry rice noodles in a heat proof bowl, and let steep for 10 minutes or more until they’re cooked, but not mushy. Taste them a few times. Once you like the texture, drain, cover and set aside. They should be somewhat soft for a cold noodle salad.

For the crispy garlic tofu: Using paper towels or a kitchen towel, gently press as much water as you can out of a block of organic tofu. Cut into cubes. Heat a cast iron skillet to med, add 1 tablespoon organic canola oil. Season the tofu with salt & pepper, dust with 2 tbsp corn starch. Add tofu cubes to the hot skillet and cook on all sides until it starts to get crispy. Mince 5 large, or 10 small garlic cloves, the more garlic the better. Grate or mince ½ inch of ginger. Add the minced garlic and ginger, 1 tablespoon organic soy sauce, and a drizzle of sesame oil to the sizzling tofu. At this point I also added about 3 tablespoons of the simmering black rice water to loosen up all the garlic, and give more flavor. Stir and cook everything together to crisp up. Season with a sprinkle of Korean chili powder or any chili powder you have, add a teaspoon of organic ponzu for citrusy brightness. Continue to cook on med low, until it becomes caramelized and the garlic crisps. 

Serve with noodles, add a sprinkle of sesame oil, Korean chili powder, black rice, sliced scallions, fresh mint leaves and enjoy. You could also add fresh basil, Thai basil, or cilantro, peanuts, or any nuts, or a sprinkle of organic sesame seeds to garnish. I like the ones from Edison Grainery. Great quality, great price. I made a side salad to go with this using slivered snap peas, sliced carrots, curly kale, garlic, with lemon, & olive oil dressing. Yum!