The most aromatic, refreshing, and vibrant broth to elevate your noodle bowls! This Thai-inspired green curry noodle is super easy to make, takes only about 20 minutes, and gives you all the satisfaction, layers of flavors, as well as fully balanced nutrition.
Green curry is like the mildest and most amicable child in the great Thai curry family, in my opinion anyway ;) The incredible flavor of this dish comes from a variety of fresh aromatics, including lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, all of which are hard to find in the US and outside of Asia in general.
That's where a good quality, authentic curry paste comes in handy. Choose a brand you trust and make sure that the paste has all the authentic ingredients needed in a Thai green curry. A common "downside" of using store-bought curry paste is that the color is not as vibrant as something made entirely from fresh ingredients but we can remedy that by blending part of the broth with fresh Thai basils to bring back some life and pop of color into our soup.
To make this bowl a complete meal, I added crispy air-fried tofu puffs for protein, broccolini and mung bean sprouts for vegetables, and stick rice noodles as a gluten-free carb.
INGREDIENTS:
*makes two servings
6 oz rice noodles
14 oz extra firm tofu
Broccolini and mung bean sprouts as much as you like
1 big shallot
2 tablespoon green curry paste
2 cup vegetable stock
2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoon vegan fish sauce
1 key lime
Salt and oil for cooking
TO MAKE:
- Pat and dry your tofu, cut into cubes or stamp out any shapes you like;
- Sprinkle a touch of salt on the tofu, let them sit for 15, 20 minutes, then pat them dry again with a kitchen towel;
- Transfer the tofu onto your air fryer rack or drawer, spray with some avocado oil spray, air fry the tofu at 400°F for 20 minutes, each air fryer is different so experiment with yours;
- Finely chop the shallot;
- In a large pan, heat a drizzle of oil over medium high heat, saute the shallot until aromatic and slightly caramelized, 3 - 4 minutes;
- Add in the curry paste, break it down with your spatula, add in the vegetable stock, dissolve the curry paste well, cover with a lid and bring to a simmer;
- Add in the coconut milk, stir to combine, once it's about to simmer again, take out about one cup of broth;
- Blend the one cup of broth and fresh basil leaves until very smooth;
- Add the vibrant basil broth back into the pan, stir and let the broth warm through, do NOT bring to a boil again;
- Add in the vegan fish sauce and squeeze of lime to taste;
- While the broth cooks, cook the rice noodles, once the water boils, drop the noodles in and cook for 5 minutes or so or until your preferred consistency;
- Blanch the broccolini in the same water you just cooked the noodles in, cook till the broccolini just changes color, the green will become darker;
- Add cooked noodles, vegetables to a bowl, ladle the broth on top, and finish with the crispy tofu puffs;
- Serve hot, enjoy!