Welcome to the first installment of my new series, Five-Ingredient Vegan Meals, where I take 5 simple ingredients and make delicious vegan recipes. For episode 1, we have these savory, spicy peanut-gochujang noodles with seared tofu and zucchini. The flavor combos and varying textures are very satisfying. The recipe is super simple and takes no time to throw together. I think I’m really gonna love this series, and I hope you do as well 🙏 Let’s get into it:
FULL RECIPE
ingredients
1 block (16oz) firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 zucchini (or other small squash of your choosing)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons gochujang
8 to 10z noodles of your choice
(you will also need salt, pepper, cooking oil, and hot water as specified in the preparation instructions)
preparation
have a pot of water ready to boil.
slice your tofu block in half lengthwise so that you create 2 slabs. season both sides of each tofu slab with salt, then set aside.
cut your zucchini into 1/2-inch thick by 2-inch length rectangular pieces. place in a mixing bowl, season with a few pinches of salt, toss, then set aside.
place a stainless steel or nonstick pan over medium heat and allow to warm 2 to 3 minutes. add 1 to 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil (avocado, grapeseed, high smoke point olive oil) to the pan. allow the oil to warm 15 to 20 seconds and swirl the pan to evenly coat the bottom. add your squash to the pan and allow to sear undisturbed for 3 to 4 minutes. use a spatula to help the squash release from the pan, then sear on the remaining sides to your liking, about 1-2 more minutes. remove the squash from the pan and set aside on a clean plate.
start your pot of water for the noodles at this time.
season your tofu slabs again with more salt and some black pepper to taste. use a rag or paper towel to wipe out the pan the squash was cooking in, then place back over medium heat and allow to warm 1 to 2 minutes. add another 1 tbsp cooking oil to the pan, then lay down each tofu slab. sear on the first side undisturbed for 7 to 8 minutes (or longer for desired color). while the tofu is searing, add your noodles to the boiling water,
flip each piece of tofu to the other side and sear another 5 minutes. remove the pan and allow the tofu to cool. once cooled, you can thinly slice the tofu into 1/2-inch pieces.
right before the noodles finish boiling, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. strain the noodles out and rinse briefly with cool water so that they don’t stick. place the noodles in a large mixing bowl. add the noodle cooking water to a blender with the gochujang and peanut butter (optionally you can also add a few pinches of salt here; the peanut butter I used already had a fair amount of salt so it wasn’t necessary). blend until creamy, then pour the sauce into the bowl with the noodles and toss to coat.
serve the noodles with the tofu and squash. dig in and enjoy. (optionally, for a “six ingredient” recipe, you can garnish with thinly sliced green onion).
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