Meat-free Friday recipe: instant noodle satay

This title is a bit misleading, but also not. It’s a quick dinner using cheat ingredients (hold onto your pants, instant noodles aren’t the only timer-savers in this dish), but is still super tasty!

Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes

Materials:

• Paper towels
• Pot (for noodles)
• Small bowl
• Whisk
• Large frying pan or wok

Ingredients:

• 1 block (~350g) firm tofu, frozen and thawed, then patted dry with paper towels and cut into bite-sized cubes
• 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 3-4 packs instant noodles
• ⅔ cup peanut butter (smooth works best but crunchy is ok too. I prefer all natural peanut butter.)
• ⅔ cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp garlic powder (I like to use more, but we are a family of garlic fiends)
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• Chilli flakes (optional)
• Water
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 cup small broccoli florets (can use frozen, but increase the cook time by a minute or two)
• ½ red pepper, cut into thin strips

Method

1. In a frying pan or wok on medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp peanut oil and half the tofu. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Turn the cubes every now and then, until they are crispy and golden-brown, about 6-7 minutes. Repeat for the remaining peanut oil and tofu. Obce batch is done, allow to sit on a paper towel to absorb some of the oil.
2. While the tofu is cooking, open packet noodles and discard seasoning. Prepare instant noodles in pot as per packet instructions (minus the seasoning, obviously), then strain.
3. In a small bowl whisk together peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, lime juice, and ginger, as well as your preferred amount of additional chilli flakes (optional). Gently whisk in water in very small quantities until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. If it is too thin, add more peanut butter, in small quantities.
4. Into your frying pan or wok, add remaining peanut oil and onions. Cook until translucent.
5. Add broccoli and cover for about 3-4 minutes.
6. Add peppers, strained noodles, and sauce, stir and cover another 2-3 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

Did this dish work for you? I’d love to know what you and your family thought, and of course, any changes you might have made. Still refining this recipe over ten years later!

Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!