There’s Uber Eats and then there’s Not Uber Eats. Uber Eats is when your food comes an hour after you wanted it, sauce has spilled out from the bag and is cold because someone in Silicon Valley decided that it was OK for bicycles to deliver your Vietnamese food even when it’s raining and we’re all hangry. Then there’s Not Uber Eats. Not Uber Eats is when you go to the shops, buy fresh ingredients, pay $10, spend 10 minutes cooking and then have a fresh meal made with about three things to clean up afterward.
Uber Eats < Not Uber Eats. May the odds be forever in your favour.
Caramelised Sticky Tofu Vietnamese Noodle Bowl
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 5tbs kecap manis, sweet soy sauce
- 300g tofu – see note
- 200g Vietnamese rice noodles
- To serve: mint, lettuce, cucumber, shredded carrot
Sauce…
- 3tbs fish sauce
- 2tbs vinegar
- 2tbs sugar
- juice from 1 lime
- 1/2 cup water
Method
Slice your tofu however you like and cover it with the kecap in a bowl and leave aside to marinade.
In a mug, add all the sauce ingredients and stir through until the sugar has dissolved. Have a taste – if you find it too sweet add more fish sauce and lime. Too sour, sugar and vinegar etc etc. Just go gently with the portions each time you adjust the measurements. The brand of sauce you use will alter the taste so this is a learning curve to get a feel for the balance of sweet/salty/sour.
Cook your noodles as per the packet instructions then leave aside.
Heat a non stick pan with a bit of oil and add your tofu. You don’t need to ‘cook’ this – merely char it into a nice golden sticky caramlised slab of yum.
Assemble however you like in a bowl and pour over the sauce.
Kitchen notes...
This will be disastrous with anything other than a super firm tofu. Avoid the Japanese ones – they’re too soft. I used this brand.