I’ve been a big fan of Oxo‘s kitchen tools, which make my life much easier in
the kitchen. Their vegetable peeler was my constant companion during culinary school, and comes with me to every catering
gig as part of my standard toolkit (where it is borrowed on a regular
basis). When I received an email asking for recipe suggestions for using
a selection of their utensils as part of a contest sponsored by Oxo and Plated, a meal delivery
service, I knew that I wanted to take part in it, squeezing it into my busy
working chef schedule.
For this recipe, I picked out the tongs, the small whisk, the slicer, and the salad dressing shaker. Each of these utensils are very handy to have in the kitchen for all sorts of jobs. The salad dressing shaker was my marinade mixer, with the handy cup measurements on the side helping me to figure out the right proportion of oil to vinegar. I combined everything with the whisk and then closed the top to help me pour the marinade, minimizing spills and splatters, much like using a squeeze bottle (on which we rely heavily in professional kitchens and in catering).
The slicer created beautiful, thin strips of vegetables, making them easy to cook. The three different sizes of thickness as well as the fact that you can lock down the blade when you are done, makes this a resourceful tool for slicing. It also comes with a blade guard - very important for protecting your hands and fingers. Tongs, I can’t really say enough about tongs, as I use them quite a bit in my cooking.
The cooking time (including prep) was supposed to be under 30 minutes for our dishes, according to the contest instructions. We were also limited to using 12 ingredients for the recipe, which I maxed out on completely. The vegetables retain their nice crunch with the noodles and tofu giving the dish a hearty, substantial feel and adding texture. The leftovers (if there are any) are also great!
Tofu Noodle Stir-Fry
Prep Time: 25-30 minutes
Serving Size: 2 adult portions
Ingredients:
2 oz. Thai-style Rice Noodles (about 1-inch diameter bunch)
1/8 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 wedge Lime Juice plus more for garnish
1/4 c. Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
1/3 c. Canola Oil, plus 1/4 teaspoon for stir-frying
6 oz. Extra-firm Tofu
1 medium Carrot
1 medium Red Pepper
6 large Brussels Sprouts
Fresh Cilantro
Assembly:
Cook noodles as you would pasta, by putting a pan of water on the stove to boil. Toss in the noodles and let them cook until tender. Drain and set aside, tossing the hot noodles with two teaspoons of the marinade.
Make the marinade for the tofu and sauce for the noodles by pouring the garlic powder, ground ginger, lime juice, and rice wine vinegar into the salad dressing shaker. Using the whisk to stir continuously, add the sesame oil and the canola oil to the mixture. Place the top on the salad dressing shaker. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and place in bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the tofu and let it sit while preparing the vegetables.
Using the slicer on width setting #1, cut the carrot. For the red pepper and brussels sprouts, use width setting #2 to slice. Everything will come out more or less the same width, which will allow them all to cook quickly and evenly in the pan. I used the blade guard for the sprouts, but cut the carrot and peppers down to about 1-inch left in size on the slicer and finished with a knife, as the blade guard didn’t work as effectively with those vegetables.
Heat the canola oil in a 12-inch skillet (do not use a non-stick pan) until it starts to show ripples in the oil (before it starts to smoke). With the tongs, remove the tofu with the marinade and place it in the hot oil. Let it cook for about 1 minute, moving it around with the tongs to heat evenly. Add the sliced vegetables and cook for 1 minute more. Then, add the noodles and warm everything through to heat it up. Pour over a couple of tablespoons of the marinade and toss it all together.
Place the noodles, vegetables, and tofu on two plates. Chop the cilantro and sprinkle it on each of the plates. Garnish each plate with a lime wedge, if desired. Serve immediately.
Buon appetito!
