Peanut and Miso Noodle Broth With Crispy Tofu

Welcoming the cooler weather the best way I know how

Readers, I’m sick.

Not in an awful way, just in that I don’t have a lot of energy and spend a lot of time sniffing way.

In that I-want-a-big-bowl-of-something-spicy way.

Because I’m under the weather, I’m keeping the preamble to this week’s recipe short.

This week I wanted a brothy, noodly dish. I also wanted it to include tofu because I had a block about to go past its use-by date in the fridge.

Whilst I sometimes love the silky texture of tofu in dishes like Mapo Tofu, this time I wanted something crispy and textured. I turned to a tried-and-tested recipe for salt and pepper tofu, dredged in heavily seasoned flour and shallow fried. If you’re on the fence about tofu, this will send you over it, hopefully landing on the pro side. Because fried tofu is a wonderful thing.

I made the broth as punchy as I could to cut through my diminished sense of taste, with soy, red miso and peanut butter that thickens as it cooks. And added a drizzle of chilli oil on top.

This is a dish that nurtures and coddles. Alas, it didn’t shake the cold entirely but it did make me feel better, at least for a few hours. It can also be ready in under 20 minutes which is a bonus when you’re feeling crappy.

As always, I want you to look at Capsule Pantry dishes as individual components, so you know how to make effective substitutions based on your own preferences and larder.

This week, the components are:

• Broth

• Noodles

• Vegetables

• Protein

• Garnishes

Swap like for like in each of these areas and you can’t go far wrong. For instance, I used rice noodles but you could use wheat. You could also swap the noodles for cooked rice.

With regards to the protein, I used tofu but chicken, ground pork or beef is perfectly acceptable.

As always, I’ve listed plenty of variations under the recipe to help you successfully substitute and make this dish your own.

Peanut and Miso Noodle Broth With Crispy Tofu

Serves 4

For the broth