NEW RECIPE: Cod and Tofu Chow Fun

© Constantine William Spyrou

One of the reasons I made this blog was to have a place to put up some of my favorite dishes. For example, I've got recipes for my favorite burger (the Greek Lucy), curried chicken, and risotto that I all love. This recipe is for one of my favorite Chinese dishes of all time: Chow Fun. 

Chow Fun is a stir-fried rice noodle dish that has soy sauce as a good base and can have plenty of other flavors added to it. In restaurants, beef chow fun is probably one of the most popular versions. However, I tried adding cod and tofu into a chow fun recently, and it was a delicious dish! I marinated the cod beforehand to really give it a lift in flavor. The tofu also took on flavor as it was cooked in the sauce, and the rice noodles brought everything together in a great-tasting and simple dish! 

Recipe serves 4 people:

Ingredients: 

1/2 pound cod fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (the firmer the tofu, the better here. A flavored tofu like baked tofu or tofu nuggets also work great for this)
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon chopped chilis (or chili paste)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon hoisin
1/2 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice
1/2 tablespoon white pepper
1/4 cup roughly chopped green onion
2 tablespoons diamond-cut green onion (to get this cut, slice the green onions on a vertical bias to create somewhat thick shards)
1 package (about 1-1 1/2 ponds) rice noodles (I got mines fresh from an Asian market, if yours are dried, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes and drain them first)


Cooking/Assembling:

1. Combine the ginger, garlic, chili/paste, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin, five spice, and white pepper in a bowl. Add in your chunks of cod, and mix. Marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2. Add some vegetable oil to a pan on medium-high heat. Remove the cod chunks from the marinade and cook them for about 1 minute on each side to get some color.

3. Add in the onions and chopped up tofu. Cook for another 2 minutes until the onions get soft.

4. Pour in your marinade and cook for 30 seconds, stirring to combine all of the ingredients. Fold in your rice noodles, and cook for another 2-3 minutes to ensure the noodles are cooked through and the fish is done.

5. Stir in the roughly chopped green onion for 30 seconds, then plate up and serve! Garnish with the diamond-cut green onion.

This dish has a great balance of flavors to it from all of the various flavors. The cod, tofu, and rice noodles make a great base of varied textures for the saltiness of the soy, the sweetness of the hoisin, heat from the chili and ginger, as well as some garlic, five spice, and green onion notes of fragrance that liven up the dish and make it delicious! This is a great dish for the cold holiday times!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Let me know what you think and what you would change. If you make it at home, let me know how it turns out! Enjoy! =)