Today I have for you healthy Asian rice noodles. This recipe is packed full of flavors and vegetables. I have to admit I am specially proud of how they turned out. I was experimenting with the different asian sauces and came up with this one. The secret ingredient is cooking sake. If you don’t have it you should get your hands on it. Soy sauce is a must for rice noodles. However, cooking sake will upgrade your noodles instantly.
Sake could be compared to rice wine. In fact, Japanese cuisine uses it as we would use wine to marinade meat or fish. In this case it will marinade our vegetables giving them a mouthwatering flavor (specially the eggplant).
Hope you enjoy this one and let me know if you tried it.
Prep Time: 10 min | Cooking Time: 15-20 min | Serves: 2
Ingredients:
- 150g Thick Rice Noodles
- 1/2 Eggplant
- 5-6 shiitake Mushrooms
- Tofu
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- Same amount of Ginger
- 7 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 4 tbsp Cooking Sake
- Sunflower Oil
- Sesame Oil
- Cilantro
- 1/2 juice of a lime
- Cashews
- Scallions
- Salt
How to
Mince the garlic and ginger. Slice the shiitake mushrooms and cut into small squares the tofu and the eggplant. Chop some scallions and cilantro. With a mortar crush some cashews. You should not convert them into a paste, just crush them a bit.
For the sauce we’re going to add in a small bowl the soy sauce, the cooking sake and the lime.
When everything is prepared take a medium-sized pot, and heat up some water. We’re going to cook there later the rice noodles.
In a small frying pan were going to add at low-medium heat the cashews. Only the cashews. Roast them until they start to get golden. They should not get burnt! When ready, remove.
On a deep frying pan at low-medium heat we add a nice amount of sunflower oil. Add the ginger and garlic and leave it for around two minutes. Add now the eggplant with a pinch of salt. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes. The eggplant should start to soften a bit. Now add the tofu and wait another 3 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the sauce.
Meanwhile the sauce gets soaked up by the veggies, prepare the rice noodles. The water should already be warmed up. Cook them according the package instructions. Mine took around 5 minutes. Rinse them and directly add sesame oil to prevent them from sticking together.
Before assembling everything, mix to the deep pan the cashews and cilantro. In a bowl or plate serve the noodles as a base, then add the veggies and top with the scallions. Extra: Add some chili oil.
Enjoy!
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