Silken tofu simmered with vegetables in ginger soy broth

Tam West

This is satisfying but light.

Ingredients

4 cm	Ginger, peeled, very thinly sliced
2	Garlic cloves, thinly sliced
75 ml	Japanese soy sauce
2 Tbsp	Mirin
300 g	Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
350 g	Button mushrooms, halved
425 g	Straw mushrooms, 1 can, drained
325 g	Egg noodles (Main)
1 Tbsp	Sesame oil
150 g	Green beans, stalk ends cut off, beans sliced 2cm (Main)
2 Tbsp	Cornflour, dissolved in 3 Tbsp cold water
450 g	Japanese firm silken tofu, broken into bite-sized pieces (Main)
50 g	Baby spinach, placed in a heatproof bowl, covered with boiling water, drained, cooled under cold water, squeezed dry, lumps teased apart
1 jar	Chilli bean sauce, for serving (I used the Lee Kum Kee brand)

Directions

1. Put 1 litre of water into a wide, deep frying pan and add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, carrots, and the button and straw mushrooms.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes until thecarrots are tender.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to theboil and add the noodles.
4. Boil until al dente or tender to the bite, drain, place in a heatproof bowl, add the sesame oil and toss. Cover and reserve.
5. Add the beans to the carrot mixture and simmer for1 minute.
6. Stir in the cornflour mixture to lightly thicken the mix.
7. Add the tofu and spinach leaves, mix carefully but welland simmer 2-3 minutes. Taste and season with salt.
8. Serve the tofu on the warm noodles with chilli beansauce on the side.

More hearty vegetarian meals from Ray

• Baked rice cake with leeks and cheese and spicy tomato sauce
• Berlin potato and lentil soup