COCONUT CURRY TOFU
06 mar 2006

so forge ahead i did.

INGREDIENTS
2 bunches green onions
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chile paste
1 pound firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
4 cups chopped bok choy
salt to taste

METHOD
remove white parts of green onions, & finely chop. chop greens into 2-inch pieces. in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, mix coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger, & chile paste. bring to a boil. stir tofu, tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms, & finely chopped green onions into the skillet. cover, & cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. mix in basil & bok choy. season with salt & remaining soy sauce. continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. garnish with remaning green onion.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
so ... i really like broccoli. i like the way it soaks up sauces in thai & vietnamese food, although i really like it with almost anything as long as it's just slightly overcooked. bok choy, on the other hand, i could take or leave. so i substituted broccoli for bok choy.

i also eliminated the tomatoes (not in season), the bell pepper (didn't want it), & the mushrooms (ew gross). i should've made more broccoli to compensate, but i didn't.

additionally, i drastically reduced the green onions (used maybe half a bunch instead of two full bunches) & added a small chopped white onion instead. i'm not sure how much of a difference that made. i also added 3 cloves of garlic, just for the hell of it.

oh, & i didn't have curry powder, so i just added equal parts cumin, tumeric, & red pepper instead, & doubled up on the ginger. i also used cilantro instead of basil b/c i see cilantro all the time at thai & vietnamese restaurants, whereas for me, basil has more of an italiany taste.

so i guess it's kind of almost an entirely different recipe? but still really good.

the last change i made was that i fried the tofu in peanut oil before i added it to the sauce. (i actually fried it up before making the sauce at all b/c i only have one skillet.) i'd never fried tofu before, but a waiter told me once that peanut oil was the secret, so i poured a few tablespoons of peanut oil into the skillet (which probably would've worked better were my burner not off-kilter & slanty), heated it, & plopped the tofu cubes in. it took WAY longer to fry than i thought it would, but my patience paid off & the tofu got golden & crispy on the outside. i am REALLY proud of myself for figuring that part out -- especially without guidance from a recipe -- & now that i know how to do it, i'll probably be doing it a lot more often. & you can drain it on paper towels after it's done, so that probably helps marginally with the grease factor.

the sauce initially looked like it was never going to come together -- the coconut milk was all separated & weird-looking, the spices were clumpy, the chile paste wouldn't mix in, & i forgot to saute the onions in advance -- but i just dumped it all in & crossed my fingers & it actually totally worked out.

the spices still need a little fine-tuning, & that may be mostly to do with the improvised curry powder, & i REALLY should've made rice to go with it, but by the time i thought about it, everything was almost finished & the rice i have takes about half an hour to make, so no go. i did make rice afterwards & i poured the leftover sauce in with the rice, b/c i really needed to either halve the sauce recipe or triple the amount of broccoli (& use a full package of tofu instead of a half, which is what i did).

daniel hated it, but he apparently hates coconut milk, so there you go. i asked him if he didn't like it b/c of the spices, & he said, "no, i don't like it b/c it's bad." at least he's honest!

"Coconut Curry Tofu" from allrecipes.com.