MONDAY RECIPE POST - VEGAN SPICY THAI PEANUT RAMEN

We both enjoy Thai food and it has been a while since I shared a Thai recipe.  As soon as I saw this I knew it was for us.  Not only did it look a very flavorful dish, it was very pretty to look at and pleasing to the eye.  It could also be made to fit our own taste in the way of added vegetables.  Though it has 'spicy' in the title, I like things on the mild side as far as seasonings go, and if I can eat it and not have a problem, anyone can.  You can read my note on this at the bottom of this recipe.

I found the recipe at a food blog called Rabbits and Wolves, hosted by Lauren.  I was looking to add a meatless dish to our weekly menu.  You can see the original recipe here.  Thank you Lauren!  The broth alone has become a favorite, the whole dish was very yummy. 

Vegan Spicy Thai Peanut Ramen - Serves 6

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

1 teaspoon green curry paste

4 cups vegetable broth, divided (3 cups and 1 cup)

1 can (13 to 14 ozs) full-fat coconut milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Agave syrup (see added notes below my signature at the end of my post.  I have added some substitutions in case you can't find this Agave syrup)

Juice from 2 limes, plus extra for garnish

12 ozs. Ramen noodles (seasoning packet removed)

Suggested additions by Lauren:

Mushrooms, thinly sliced

Toasted sesame seeds, black or white

Thai Chilis

Cilantro

Peanuts, chopped

Other vegetable choices to suit your taste

Our choices were:

Firm Tofu, 16 oz. box cut into bite-sized cubes

1 container of Mushrooms, sliced

A handful of Baby Snow Peas

Sweet peppers, diced (I bought a packet of small ones, a mixture of red, yellow and orange.  Use as many as you think you would enjoy)

A handful of Peanuts, chopped
A handful of fresh Cilantro

In a large pot heat the 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium high heat.

Add the chopped garlic and grated ginger.  Sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, reducing heat as needed (we want the garlic cooked and not burned).

Add the curry paste and stir into the garlic and ginger for about a minute more.

Add the 3 cups of vegetable broth and the coconut milk.  Stir to combine and reduce the heat to a low simmer.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the peanut butter with remaining 1 cup of vegetable broth until smooth.  

Once this step is done add the mixture (peanut butter and cup of broth) to the pot.  Thoroughly combine with other ingredients.

Add the Agave, soy sauce and the juice of the 2 limes.  Simmer on low for 10 minutes, so that the flavors have a chance to develop.

Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary (add more salt, Agave or lime juice to suit your own taste).

Right before serving add the Ramen noodles.  Simmer and cook according to package directions.  This should only take about three minutes but using a spoon, carefully take out a couple of strands and taste test.  You might want to let it cool a little bit as I don't want you to burn your lip.  We don't want the Ramen too mushy but I'm one of those people who doesn't like it too hard either.

Serve immediately.  The broth is delicious on its own but we loved it with all the extras.

Notes: 

Measure all your ingredients out first before starting, and put them within arm's reach when you are adding everything to the pot.  I know I'm preaching to the choir here but maybe there are some cooks just starting their culinary adventures.

I would suggest fixing your tofu before making the broth.  Take the tofu out of its container, put on a plate and wrap in a clean dry tea towel, or between a couple of layers of paper towel.  (This link will take you to a YouTube video showing five ways to drain tofu.)  

We pressed out as much liquid as we could.  This is so that it will crisp when sautéing in a smidgen of olive oil heated on medium-high.  Turn down heat if tofu is browning too quickly.)  

Before adding them to the frying pan put 2 tablespoons of cornflower in a bowl.  A few cubes at a time, toss tofu and shake off any excess cornflower.  Put on another plate.  Repeat until all tofu has been coated.  

Sauté on all sides until golden.  This will take a few minutes.  When done put on a clean plate and set aside.  You will be putting tofu back into the broth to reheat before serving.

We sautéed the mushrooms for a few minutes in a separate frying pan, and also set aside on a clean plate.  Added them to the broth a few minutes to reheat.

I picked the cilantro leaves off the stalks and stirred them into the broth at the last minute.  We also kept a few leaves for a garnish, along with all of the chopped peanuts. 

Section 2 extra limes lengthwise and place on a small dish to pass around at the table. It gives this meal a nice little zip squeezing extra juice over your meal.  Again, entirely up to you if you want to do that.

There are leftovers for other meals and they only get better.  We found this out the next day.

This is a note for my own benefit and not necessarily for everyone, as tastes are different.  We thought we would try an extra teaspoon of grated ginger next time, and also an extra teaspoon of green curry paste.

These sound like a lot of steps but they go fast and we gave this meal a 10 out of 10.

For fun I played with the Brushstrokes app on my iPAD and turned one of my photos into art.

Added note at 8-03 p.m. on 10-7-19

Sallie whose blog is A Full-Time Life, mentioned that she didn't have a couple of ingredients and as she would be on the road soon, didn't want to buy anything else as she is trying to use everything up before she leaves.  I think we can all relate to that. 

One of those items Sallie mentioned was Agave Syrup, and my next thought was that some of you might not have that readily available in your local supermarket either, as I have read it can be hard to find.  So, I thought I would look up substitutions.  I found the following at various websites online.

White Sugar: you can substitute white sugar to replace Agave, but it is suggested that for every quarter cup, use a 1/3 cup of sugar with a  couple of tablespoons of water.

Honey: you can also use honey but probably half as much because its sweetness is so concentrated.

Dates: can be mashed into many recipes to provide a subtle sweetness that resembles Agave.  

Corn syrup: using twice as much corn syrup as the recipe calls for of Agave.

Brown sugar: brown sugar provides a toasted, earthy sweetness that can easily replace Agave in a recipe.  Use the equivalent amount and test taste your broth at the end of the cooking time in this recipe.

Blackstrap molasses:  This thick, unsulphured variety of sweetener is not only healthier than most carbohydrate-containing sugars, but also provides a number of minerals than can boost overall health.  Use the exact same amount as called for when using the Agave.  In this recipe it calls for 2 tablespoons Agave Syrup, so you would use 2 tablespoons of Unsulphured Molasses to replace it.

This has turned into an epistle of a post, but that's the way she flies when she starts flying around the internet.