Spicy Rice Noodles With Crispy Tofu and Spinach Recipe (2024)

We enjoyed this, but like others I felt it needed a little more sauce, and I probably would pesto-ize the basil and scallions in a different way next time. Recipe calls for wide rice noodles but I think linguine sized (like in picture) would have been better. I did 3 cloves of garlic instead of 1 and could have definitely done more. Would be nice to use some garlic crisps as garnish. I did blanched bok choy instead of spinach, which worked out well. Would be nice to add more greens altogether

This is fantastic! I used regular vegetable oil in place of the peanut oil, but tossed in a small handful of peanuts instead. The flavors work beautifully together and it has a fresh, light taste with great depth and a hint of heat. This is a wonderful vegan dish, one I’ll be making often. Love it!

I want my hour back. I followed the recipe, am a good cook with professional experience but yikes, for all the effort, so little payoff. Tofu flavorless and dry and none of the coatings stuck. I had semi-naked, shriveled 1/2 inch cubes and a pile of too-toasted lonely Panko crumbs wanting to bond to a big hunk of tofu but no go. We've all been there I guess. The "furious" chopping made a paste but with no complexity at all. The spicy oil is bland 1/2 lime isn't enough acid!

Mostly very good though I took some pantry/weeknight liberties. However, I found the tofu cubes, though crisp, bland; I might revert to my Moosewood baked version (sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger) next time. I substituted mint (overrunning garden) for the basil and pulverized it quickly with mortar and pestle, and bok choy leaves (blanched) for the spinach. Will definitely make again.

This rated 5/5 stars for dinner. Sauce stuck to 10mm noodles. Flavors were layered and complex. I used grapeseed oil instead peanut. Tofu had flavor and crunch. I chopped the baby spinach. There was enough sauce and the spinach wilted slightly; the perfect amount imo. Leftovers went in the fridge and rated 5/5 the next day for lunch. Flavors still excellent, oils didn’t congeal, and noodles stayed soft and moist. This is perfect to serve warm or make ahead and serve chilled. Picnic or potluck 👍

Very good, it found that the finished dish needed more sauce of some kind. I used all the oil, but it was still rather dry. I had some leftover peanut dipping sauce from an Asian dumpling meal which helped. The tofu cooking method is the bomb.

I didn't make the tofu as the recipe states, instead I squeezed the extra water out of the tofu, let it soak in soy sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, and vegetable oil. After soaking for 10 minutes, I popped it in the oven for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. It doesn't get crunchy, but packs a lot of flavor. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a T and it's really good! The spicy sauce is really flavorful.

Thought this recipe was good, but a little dry and bland. I made this a little more vietnamese style by tossing the noodles with fish sauce, soy sauce, a little sugar, and extra lime. Also included cilantro and mint in the "pesto." Topped with chopped roasted peanuts. Tofu crisped up nicely. Overall, quite tasty with these additions.

I sauteed the spinach with a bit of sesame oil before adding it to the noodles and it was perfect

We have found that baking the tofu for 25 minutes at 425 convection yields crispy tofu.

Just a FYI, you can use cloth dish towels to press the tofu. Then just wash them.

Love this method for tofu... it’s life changing tofu. :)Only change we make to the noodle recipe is to sauté the spinach with some of the spicy oil. Delicious!

Wanted to edit my previous note to add this...I took out the slices of garlic and ginger before pouring the oil. This was a very tasty recipe. I wish the pesto clung to the pasta a little better - not sure how to achieve that though. I also wish I'd had some unsalted cashews or peanuts to add - they would have been a perfect complement. Will definitely make this again.

Loved this recipe -- definitely going into the weekly rotation. A few notes: -swapped tofu with tempeh and pan fried (rather than baked), omitting breadcrumbs and cornstarch-burned the ginger/garlic/sesame seed oil promptly; keep a close eye on it!-used canola & olive oils and it was good, but i'm will definitely use peanut & sesame oils next time

Not enough sauce. Double the sauce instructions. Also I slightly steamed the spinach as I didn’t think the pouring of oil would do the trick. Lastly double the tofu quantity to 2 packages and coatings.

I will never make this again. (1) It was too bland, mind boggling considering I used so much chili, basil and sesame oil. Needs more salt or umami. (2) It was absolutely more work than the payoff - the crunchy tofu on a bowl of instant ramen would have been almost the same. (3) It uses more cookware than almost any recipe I have for what is supposed to be a simple noodle bowl. Thumbs down.

I made this for a dinner party with a friend who is vegan and two others who are not. It was a huge success! I used thin noodles (kind of like Pho noodles) and it worked out well. I agree with another comment on this recipe, that I would probably grind the scallions and basil for the pesto, the paste didn't seem to combine well with the noodles. I used more garlic than it called for (probably about 6 cloves) and I thought the flavor was a little brighter, but I know that's personal preference.

Delicious But makes more like 2-3 servings

This was good but I’m going to marinate the tofu first and add a tad more cornstarch next time. Also going to use the other half of the lime.

-I agree with the others, double the garlic/ginger sauce, that way you have plenty to add and more for drizzling. (And I used extra extra garlic and ginger within that sauce). -I added some thinly sliced red chili peppers on top for color and more heat. -I used 1 teaspoon of salt for the tofu, but next time will just use the 1/2 teaspoon since the rest of the dish has enough salty flavor. -Added more greens. Loved this. Easier than I thought and makes great leftovers.

Was so excited for this but it fell flat. Too oily and just not that great. The tofu was kind of rubbery and not wonderful and the entire dish was just a disappointment. Especially for so much work....won't make again.

Emphasizing another user's suggestion to add fish sauce. Found it was quite bland without it and adding it was the perfect compliment to the herbs (also used cilantro vs. basil) and lime.

This definitely took some time to prepare but it was worth it! The tofu was a great compliment to the fresh, smoky noodle and spinach. Vegan and meat-eating family members LOVED it!

This was just ok. A lot of prep work and it was not very flavorful (perhaps needed more sauce for the amount of noodles, although plenty of oil), found it too salty.

I always double the basil/green onion situation and the spinach. Love it and make it all the time. Recipe is great!

3 cups of spinach took over the dish. I would cut it back.

Prepare tofu using Moosewood’s baked tofu recipe and double sauce.

Loved the tofu preparation. Very flavorful & crispy. The key is to press the tofu for a good 30-60 minutes. I was able to find gluten free panko in the store. I used a food processor to create the paste out of the salt, basil and scallions. Next time I will chop the spinach before adding it to the noodles & will prepare the noodles per the package next time, cooking it similar to pasta, the 10 minute soak was not enough. I topped the dish with peanuts. Yum

This complicated recipe completely missed the mark. "Sarah Jampel" must be a pseudonym for a ChatGPT "chef".

Delicious. Could definitely double the oil for more sauce. Didn't have plain sesame seeds so used "everything but the bagel" seasoning from trader Joe's and it worked beautifully.