Coconut Cashew Ginger Noodles

This month, I will be sending some quality nood(les) your way to bring coziness and warmth to this incredibly bleak year. All jokes aside, 2020 has been quite the tumultuous time with one event after another occurring. I try to balance the world’s endless chaos by exerting my own creative energy in the kitchen to make something comforting. Everyone should consider having a creative outlet to express yourself and zone off from the outside world.

Enough about me, let’s talk about this dish. I had an epiphany the other day when I was ideating what to make for my meal prep clients. Some considerate points that have been crossing my mind more and more lately are: what’s in season, what would taste good together, have I made this before, how balance is it in terms of nutritional content? In that same vein, this coconut cashew curry dish passes with flying colors. Like all food should be, this recipe is extremely versatile so you can, and always should, have the freedom to customize this to our liking.

Truthfully, I got the inspiration from Lara Lee from Coconut & Sambal. Chef Lara dishes out amazing recipes that evoke her Australian-Indonesian cultural background (how unique is that?!). I’ve been following Lara Lee for a few months now and I find each of her creations both delicious and inspiring.

Alas, here is the coconut cashew ginger noodle recipe (I’ll shut up now, ok)

COCONUT CASHEW GINGER NOODLES

Cook time: ~30 minutes | Serves: 4 hungry people

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 pack of buckwheat soba noodles

  • 1 pack of shirataki noodles

  • 1 can of FULL FAT COCONUT MILK

  • 1 big piece of ginger

  • 2 cloves of garlic

  • 1 /4 cup toasted cashews

  • 1/4 cup toasted coconut shreds

  • 1 block of tofu, cubed and pressed to remove liquid

  • mushrooms of choice (I chose chanterelle and blue oyster because I was feeling boujee)

  • greens of your choice (I used green onions, however, you can use any thick green such as bok choy, choi sum, kale)

  • 4 tbsp high smoke point oil (I chose sesame. Other options are avocado oil or canola oil)

  • 1 tsp sea salt (or more if desired)

  • 2 tsp Chinese five-spice

  • 1 tsp curry powder

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Boil a pot of water with a dash of salt and cook the buckwheat noodles as instructed. We will be added the noodles into a pan so want to cook the noodles al dente.

  2. Drain the shirataki noodles as instructed on the package and set aside, separate from the soba noodles.

  3. Prep your food as the noodles cool down. Peel your ginger with a spoon and chop it up into large chunks. Mince your garlic finely. Cube your tofu and set aside. Chop your greens and mushrooms if you haven’t done so already.

  4. In a separate pan, add a bit of sesame, avocado, or olive oil and turn the heat to high and leave your mushrooms on there, UNDISTURBED until they’re browned on the side facing down. When it reaches this color, turn the heat down to medium and toss the mushrooms ONCE. This will really bring out the flavors of whatever mushrooms you chose for this dish.

  5. In a large pan or wok on medium heat, coat your pan with the sesame oil. Add in the chopped garlic and ginger until they become fragrant.

  6. Add in the tofu until the outside edges become crispy. Remove the tofu then add the coconut milk to the pan and turn the fire down to a low-medium heat. Let this simmer for 5 minutes.

  7. This is the tricky part. Fish out the ginger pieces from the coconut milk broth (because no one wants to eat whole pieces of ginger).

  8. Next, add in the greens then the noodles. Mix all the ingredients around and add in the spices last. Season more with salt if desired.

  9. Serve the noodles and garnish with the coconut shreds, cashews, tofu, and mushrooms. Dig in!

DVF, dinner party recipesBryn Yasuiveganrecipes, veganasian, noodlesComment