Day 13 – Beancurd Noodles with Bok Choy in a Miso Cream Sauce
Last night’s recipe was originally based on this recipe for a miso walnut paste, used as a topping for vegetables, combined with an idea to use up the leftover tofu skins from Day 9, but along the way I got inspired by the memory of the Mushrooms in a Miso Cream Sauce I had at Izakaya Kuroki in Sydney. A little Macguyvering later I had come up with something completely unexpected.
You will need:
1-2 Tbs Walnut Miso Paste, made according to the recipe on Just Bento
2 heads baby bok choy, roughly chopped
1 large sheet beancurd skin (the thick, tofu-like variety, not the more delicate dried type), shredded into noodle-like strips. Mine was roughly fettucine sized.
1/4c vegetable stock
1 Tbs cream
1 Tbs oil (I used macadamia, peanut or canola would also work)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Pinch of sesame seeds.
Heat the macadamia and sesame oils in a frying pan and add the beancurd noodles. Stirfry over a medium heat until warmed through. Add the stock and bok chou and stir until the stock is mostly absorbed and the bok choy is beginning to soften slightly.
Add the miso paste and stir to coat. Now add the cream and stir thoroughly. Cook over a low heat until the sauce thickens and clings to the other ingredients.
Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Miso and cream seems like an odd combination, but the miso gives the sauce a fantastic savoury flavour, while the cream tempers the sharp, intense saltiness of the miso. The beancurd noodles were an unexpected discovery – they have the texture of al dente pasta, hold their shape fantastically and because of their thinness, they avoid the wet funkiness that can sometimes be associated with tofu. The walnuts thicken the sauce and, along with the “noodles” add protein.
Another one for the regular rotation, and the beancurd noodles will also be returning to replace noodles or pasta in other dishes, in order to keep the carbs down.
