Vegan MoFo III: Tofu Fried Rice Noodle Soup

Er...what?  Since today is Movie Monday I decided to be as crazy as possible with it.  There are no cutesy menu names or meal themes.  Just a combination of two of my childhood faves.  Tonight's movie is Crooklyn.  Years ago, I dated a guy who was obsessed with Spike Lee.  I had only ever seen about 2 of his movies, so we spent many dates watching Spike Lee movies.  This is, by far, my favorite.

It's about huge family of seven in 1970s Brooklyn.  It is such a rich film.  Such a roller coaster of emotions.  I seriously love the 70s.  If any decade could represent me, that would be it.  And NYC has always been a city that I should have been born in.  Plus, the soundtrack is killer.  If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest it.  I will tell you (because I forgot about this until I just saw it) that there is a 2 second scene where the boys are harassing the girls and throw a cat at them.  It is super cringeworthy.

Watching this movie always makes me wish I grew up in a big family like my parents did.  In the movie, the family has dinner together.  This was something we rarely did, but I do remember one time we always seemed to be together: whenever my dad would make shrimp fried rice.  Both my parents would be in the kitchen cooking a bunch of food in the wok.  I really wanted to make tofu fried rice, but was in the mood for soup.  Then, I remembered how much I loved ramen.  So it's kinda a combo of the two.  I actually used this recipe and the one from the Epicurious challenge as my basic guide.

Tofu "Fried" Rice Noodle Soup

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tsp sriracha sauce (less if you don't like a little spice)

1 lb extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into 16 triangles (frozen and thawed is even better)

1 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil

1 carrot, peeled and diced

3 green onions, sliced (whites and dark greens separated)

1 inch piece of ginger, minced

1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced

1 3/4 cups water

1/4 cup frozen peas

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 servings rice vermicelli or cellophane noodles, prepared according to directions

salt and pepper to taste

Mix the soy sauce and sriracha together.  Marinate the tofu in this mixture for 10 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add the carrot, white parts of the green onion, and ginger.  Cook until the carrot just begins to soften, a little less than 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer.  Add the water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peas.  Bring to a boil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place a serving of noodles in a bowl.  Cover with half the broth and vegetables.  Throw some tofu on that baby and sprinkle with green onions (and soy sauce if you so desire).  You should have some 'fu left over so all is good in the world.

And looky what came in the mail today:

I flipped through the book and there are so many interesting looking recipes.  There is an entire section dedicated to Easy Bake Oven recipes!  Finally, I can justify my supreme want for an Easy Bake Oven even though I have no kids and am so much older than 8!

Anyway.  The soup was good.  This movie is making my heart ache and I have a ton of homework.  So glad Monday is almost done.