CHEF SHARES EASY 'FAKEAWAY' STICKY NOODLES YOU CAN MAKE IN JUST 15 MINUTES - RECIPE
Noodles can be enjoyed as part of a range of Thai and Chinese dishes or you can make them the main focus of your meal. If you're looking for a quick and easy dinner packed with flavour, chef Lisa Marley has shared her simple recipe exclusively with Express.co.uk. And you can make it with or without any meat at all.
Noodle-based dishes are best enjoyed with a flavoursome sauce, fresh greens and protein for a complete meal.
And this sweet, sticky, nutty recipe is guaranteed to satisfy those Friday night takeaway cravings.
While this recipe by Lisa Marley (@lisamarleychef), a plant-based chef and head trainer at ProVeg UK is designed to be meat-free, you can add almost anything you want to make it your own.
All you need is a handful of affordable ingredients and 15 minutes to spare.
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Ingredients
To make enough for two people, you need:
- Two tablespoons of vegetable oil
- One block of extra firm tofu - or protein alternative
- One brown onion
- One piece of fresh ginger
- Two cloves of garlic (peeled and finely sliced)
- 60ml soy sauce
- 60ml water and one tablespoon of Teriyaki sauce
- One red chilli (finely sliced)
- Three tablespoons of chunky peanut butter
- 400g udon noodles or 200g any dried wheat noodles
- One quarter of a cucumber, finely sliced
- Small bunch of coriander, handful of peanuts and sesame seeds (optional)
For the best results, use a large, non-stick frying pan to cook the sticky noodles without burning them.
Start by heating the pan on medium heat with the vegetable oil until sizzling.
Add your tofu or alternative protein and fry for around five minutes (or until browned). Flip and fry on the other side.
Once golden and crispy, remove the contents of your pan and set aside for later.
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Peel the ginger with a teaspoon and grate before adding it to the pan along with the onion and garlic. Fry until the ingredients start to caramelise.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, water and red chilli.
Lisa noted that you can the combined sauce ingredients to the pan once the garlic and ginger are lightly browned, at which point it should quickly thicken on the heat.
Add the tofu back to the pan and stir until coated. After this, remove it from the pan and leave the sauce to simmer on the lowest heat.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
Add the peanut butter to the sauce in the frying pan and whisk together until very smooth. Once cooked, drain the noodles (reserving the noodle water) and add them to the frying pan with the sauce.
Serve the noodles while hot, topped with the crispy glazed tofu, cucumber, chopped peanuts, sesame seeds and coriander.
While you can use meat instead, Lisa noted that tofu has many health benefits. She said: "Tofu is a gear source of 'complete' protein - meaning that it has a well-balanced amino acid profile - in addition to potassium, fibre, magnesium, copper, iron and manganese. Some women have even claimed it helps them with menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and mood swings. This is thought to be due to the phytoestrogens found in tofu and the fact they mimic the hormone oestrogen in the body."