hen Tuck’s parents first started dating, Tuck’s dad did not eat Asian food. The Neistat girls (Tuck & Tate’s moms) believe they were Asian in another life, that is how much they crave dishes like pho, sushi, and Chinese dumplings on a regular basis. So, you can imagine, that when Tuck’s dad refused to eat Thai food late after a baseball game, Tuck’s mom nearly had a meltdown.

Over the years, Tuck’s dad has evolved his food palate immensely, and we think that is partly due to this Tofu Peanut Noodle recipe. The peanut sauce ingredients-soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chili sauce, and rice wine vinegar- are a 101 Intro Class into Asian flavors. Blending them with peanut butter tames their flavors and makes the sauce approachable for everyone. As with all of our recipes, feel free to modify the vegetables that we have added to the noodles so that you can use up what you have in your refrigerator. We love this recipe fresh off the stove and served hot, but we always make extra so that we can have it the next day for a quick lunch on-the-go.
Tofu Peanut Noodles

Makes: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients For The Peanut Sauce:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs sriracha or other chili paste (3 if you want to feel the burn)
• 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbs fresh ginger, minced
• salt, to taste

Ingredients For The Noodles :

• 1 package tofu
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 2 (2/3 cup) shredded carrots
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 large handful of green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup edamame beans, thawed if frozen
• 7 oz (1/2 package) rice noodles, sometimes called pad thai noodles or pho noodles
• 1 cup pasta water
• 1 lime, cut into wedges, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Make the sauce. Combine all of the ingredients for the peanut sauce (peanut butter – ginger) in a large mixing bowl. If the sauce resembles a thick paste, that is okay. You will dilute the peanut sauce with pasta water after you finish cooking the noodles. Set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cut the tofu into bite-sized pieces and put into the large skillet. Let the tofu dehydrate and cook for about 10 minutes, using a spatula to flip the tofu every few minutes. When it starts to stick to the pan, coat the tofu with cooking spray and season with salt and the garlic powder. Remove the tofu from the pan into a second bowl; cover and keep warm.
3. Cook the rest of the vegetables (carrots – edamame) in the same skillet you cooked the tofu. Coat the pan with the 1 tbs of sesame oil and cook the vegetables until they are tender- 4 or 5 minutes. Season with salt and place the vegetables into the same bowl as the tofu and cover again to keep warm.
4. Heat a large pot full of water to boil the noodles. Cook the noodles according to package directions- which should be about 3 minutes. Carefully remove the noodles from the water with tongs straight into the peanut sauce bowl. This will help the peanut sauce dilute to reach your desired consistency. If the water from the noodles is not enough, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to add hot pasta water to the peanut sauce. Continue to use tongs to toss the pasta until the sauce is evenly coated on the noodles. As this point, taste the noodles and season with salt and sriracha as needed.
5. Gently toss the vegetables and tofu with the peanut noodles. Serve immediately.