Recipe for Vegetarian Thai Fried Rice with Cilantro
Adapted from The Asian Vegan Kitchen by Hema Parekh
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4 green chilies (Indian or Thai) finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 tub extra-firm organic tofu
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp chili oil (alternately use sesame oil)
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped (everything except hard stems)
3 cups cooked white / brown rice
Method:
- Prepare the tofu:
- Squeeze out any extra water from the tofu but placing the tofu in between 2 plates and placing a heavy weight on top. Leave it for around 30 minutes. The water should be squeezed out.
- Cut the tofu in to cubes and marinate it in the chili oil and 1 Tbsp of soy sauce for around 30 minutes
- Bake it in the oven for around 10-15 minutes at 300F until the tofu is lightly browned. Alternately, pan fry it in a wok with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil carefully, so as to not break up the tofu too much, until the tofu is lightly browned
- Heat 2 Tbsp vegetable oil in a wok
- Add the minced garlic and green chilies and fry for a couple of minutes until the garlic is fragrant
- Add the minced onion and fry for around 3-4 minutes
- Then add the mushrooms and fry for around 3-4 minutes
- Then add the julienned red bell pepper (saving a few slices for garnish), chopped cilantro, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, sugar and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes
- Switch off the heat and spoon the cooked white rice and mix without mashing it up too much
- Garnish with the remaining red bell pepper and serve