Quick Ma Po Tofu

 30 minutes|| Vegan || Gluten free

Ingredients    

1 block of SILKEN tofu (if you hate the texture you can use firm tofu, but traditionally you would want silken) you want the tofu in cubes

1 package of faux ground meat (i used abbots butcher it is gluten free and vegan)

A tiny bit of oil for sauteeing 

1 shallot (minced)

4-5 garlic cloves minced

2 scallions thinly sliced (save green ends for garnish)

Sauce ingredients:

2 tablespoons of fly by jing CHENGDU CRUNCH** (see notes)

2 tablespoons of tamari or coconut aminos

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

1 cup of vegetable broth

1 tsp of maple syrup

Noodles:

1 package (8 ounces) of pho rice noodles 

Cooking Instructions    

1.) Heat the oil in a deep skillet or cast iron, and saute the scallion, garlic and shallot just for a minute, and then add in the ground "beef" and saute untill it gets a bit crispy.

2.) Pour the sauce mixture into the pan and carefull add the cubes of tofu

let this come to a slow bubble and then put the lid on and leave it alone on low for about 10 minutes until its not quite so liquidy and more saucy, the tofu will absorb the sauce and become very flavorful. 

3.) Cook the pho noodles, since they are rice noodles and very thin, I just soak them in scalding hot water for a few minutes until al dente and then drain them and rinse under cold water.

4.) Add the noodles to your tofu mixture and gently mix around. Heat some more until noodles are heated up and serve immediately garnishing with green ends of the scallion. You can save and reheat for meal prep, the noodles sometimes get a little softer as reheated but still delicious. 

**Notes: If you can't find, you can use 1 tablespoon of chili crunch or if you can get your hands on fermented black bean paste in your asian market use that with 1 tbsp of chili crunch!