This Chinese Five Spice Tofu Bowl features a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns soaked up by the tofu and noodles. Its warm flavours stick to your taste memory and leave you wanting more. Chinese Five Spice is available in the spice rack of most major grocers.
Read on for this easy-to-build bowl. And please feel free to substitute the veggies in the recipe for what’s in your fridge and leftovers’ containers. I sure do!
Chinese Five Spice Tofu Bowl
Time: depending on how many ingredients you are prepping versus how many you’ve got on hand, this could take from 10 to 30 minutes.
Yield: 1 serving – multiply as you like
Equipment: wok or stir-fry pan, large serving bowl, MOST IMPORTANTLY – the spirit to play with whatever vegetables you’ve got on hand. This is not a “stick by the rules” dish.
- 1 cup Udon, rice (both gluten-free) or whole grain noodles
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup brown button mushrooms, sliced
- ¼ teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, diced finely
- 1 green onion, chopped finely
- ½ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice powder
- 1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce (use gf as needed)
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon chilli paste (Sambal Oelek)
- 4 ounces extra firm tofu, cut in 1-inch cubes
- ½ cup broccoli florets, blanched (or any colour cauliflower or Romanesco)
- ½ cup snow peas (or pea shoots if available)
- ½ cup red pepper – cut in thin strips (or whatever colour you like or cucumbers if, like me, that’s what you’ve got)
- ¼ cup carrots – cut in thin strips (I had leftover oven-baked yam fries, so I substituted them in)
- ½ cup frozen edamame beans, thawed (frozen peas or chick peas would work here too)
- 1 Tablespoon cilantro leaves, finely cut
- Cook the noodles of your choice, drain and set aside.
- Warm the olive oil in a wok or fry pan on medium heat and add the mushrooms, cooking and stirring until they are browned on all sides.
- Add the garlic for 30 seconds followed by the ginger and green onion, cooking until they are fragrant – another 30 seconds, then stir in the Chinese Five Spice powder followed by the soy, maple syrup and chilli paste.
- Stir in the cooked noodles, followed by the tofu, until coated and heated through.
- Transfer the tofu noodle mixture to the center of a large soup bowl and arrange the broccoli, peas (or pea shoots), red pepper, carrot and edamame beans around the noodles.
- Garnish with the cilantro leaves.
- Enjoy eating with chop sticks if you can.
