Vegetable Noodles with Tofu and Spicy Peanut Sauce
, Updated Apr 28, 2021
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A medley of raw spiralized vegetable noodles served with pan fried smoked marinated tofu and a totally addictive spicy peanut dressing.
I have been creating so many cakes and desserts recently (for freelance clients) that I often find myself with as many as five different kinds of sweet options and nothing for lunch.
This is not as great as it might sound to some – there’s only so much cake one can eat without bouncing off the walls on a sugar high.
I often turn to my spiralizer in times like these – making a quick stir fry or zoodle dish to balance out the inevitable ‘tasting’ bites I take while baking. Or I did until my spiralizer literally fell apart during a (failed) sweet potato noodle experiment.
Thankfully, as if by magic, I received an email asking me to review the Oxo Tabletop spiralizer the very next day my previous device finally gave up the ghost.
Over the past three years I have tried every version of spiralizer going, from julienne peelers, to handheld ones, to tabletop versions. If you are at all serious about spiralizing vegetables I would suggest you skip straight to the tabletop version.
And having now tried three of those I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Oxo one is my favourite and my best.
The Oxo tabletop spiralizer races ahead the competition with a single – but significant – improvement. Rather than rely on small suction cups on each of the legs, the Oxo spiralizer has a large central suction cup that literally locks it to the tabletop – it won’t budge no matter how vigorously you use it.
It has three blades options – Spaghetti Cut, Fettuccine Cut, and Ribbon Cut – which store neatly away in a box when not in use. And unlike my previous two devices it has a really good grip on vegetables provided you follow a couple of essential spiralizing rules. Adhering to these will save you a lot of frustration and small ‘half moon’ shaped noodles!
Choose vegetables that are solid, not too soft fleshed, and at least 4cm in diameter and length. Cut the ends of the vegetable as flat and even as possible to ensure proper grip on the spiralizer.
You might need to cut some of the longer/larger vegetables in half – like butternut squash for example. I had great success getting long – very long! – noodles with this gadget, so long in fact that they had to be cut down to a more manageable size before serving.
This recipe was inspired by a Bon Appetit recipe which popped up on my Facebook feed – itself a loose interpretation of Indonesian Gado Gado.
The peanut dressing is pretty much all you will want to eat once you get a taste of it (why are peanut-based sauces so freaking addictive?). I used spiralized courgettes (zucchini), mouli (daikon), beetroot and cucumber but you could use any combination you like.
Gado Gado is usually served with boiled eggs but I wanted to keep this recipe vegan so I added pan fried smoked tofu. It was utterly delicious – and kind of made up for that slice of coffee cake I had for breakfast!
for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
Spiralized Vegetable Noodles with Smoked Tofu and Spicy Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 200 g (7oz) smoked tofu sliced thinly
- 3 spring onions scallions sliced into thin rounds
- 2 courgettes zucchini
- 1 mouli daikon, peeled
- 1 large beetroot peeled
- half large cucumber
- 1 tsbp black sesame seeds
- handful cashews
- handful fresh coriander cilantro leaves
- lime wedges to serve
- a little sesame oil to fry
- For the peanut sauce
- 3 heaping tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 2 large garlic cloves sliced or minced
- 1 red chilli deseeded and finely diced
- small piece fresh ginger peeled and finely diced
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- juice of half a lime
Instructions
- Spiralize the courgettes, mouli and beetroot using the spaghetti blade. Use the ribbon blade to spiralize the cucumber. Arrange the vegetable noodles in a large bowl.
- Heat a splash of sesame oil and pan fry the smoked tofu (I used Taifun Organic Smoked Tofu with Almonds & Sesame Seeds). Set aside.
- Dry fry the cashews in the same pan for a couple of minutes and roughly chop. Set aside.
- Add another tiny splash of oil and pan fry the garlic, chilli and ginger for a couple of minutes over low heat. Stir in the peanut butter and enough hot water to thin it out into a smooth sauce. Turn off the heat and whisk in the soy sauce, sriracha and lime juice. Transfer to a bowl.
- Arrange the spring onions, chopped cashews, tofu and coriander leaves over the noodles. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve with the hot sauce on the side. Once the sauce is mixed in with the noodles the vegetables will soften slightly and get infused with the wonderful flavours of the dressing. Serve with extra lime wedges on the side.
I've tried courgetti and butternut squash noodles, they were both nice
I've only ever tried the spiralised courgettes from Waitrose and they were lovely (cooked with a very little bit of butter).
I've never tried them
I love veg and am always on a healthy eating regime so would love to try this to make my meals seem a little more interesting
Not tried, but have really wanted to try courgettes spiralised!
I've never used one but I think I'd have fun with it thats for sure
No I haven't tried spiralized vegetables, however my daughter saw one on an advert and commented how she would like to one. Great prize. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I've never tried a spiralizer, but love cucumbers, so would try it on that first.
I've not used a spiralizer before and am keen to get around to doing so. I'd spiralize all and everything and as it's soon autumn I look forward to trying pumpkins and squash.
Not got one myself but my mum has and she used a carrot for our salad