An Asian Twist To Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Crispy Sriracha Honey Lime Tofu

We love this delicious take on tofu by Stephanie Le of I am a Food Blog. Spicy sriracha blends with sweet & sour and honey lime flavours in this simple yet innovative dish. We’re confident this will be a sure hit at your Thanksgiving dinner spread, and remember – one can never be too full for tofu!

Ingredients:

1 block tofu (preferably medium, not firm)
1 cup potato starch
Oil for frying
1 1/2 tablespoons sriracha
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
sliced green onions, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Drain your tofu and cut it into 8 even pieces. Place a couple of paper towels down on a plate or cutting board and lay out your tofu. Place a couple of paper towels on top. They idea is that you’re drying it out slightly – you’re not pressing it, just removing some excess moisture. Pressing removes most of the moisture from tofu, which is NOT what we want here. Leave it a bit moist, this ensures a soft and creamy tofu interior that will contrast with the crunchy potato starch coating.

2. Spread your potato starch out in a shallow dish and coat each piece of tofu, ensuring that there are no bare spots.

3. In a cast iron pan, heat up a bit of oil over medium high heat. You don’t need a bunch of oil here, just maybe about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons. When the oil is hot and shimmery (you can test it with an uncoated wooden chopstick – when the oil is hot bubbles will form around the chopstick), add the coated pieces of tofu and cook until golden brown and crispy. Time wise, this can vary, but tofu is quite forgiving as it doesn’t brown easily. When one side is brown, flip it over and repeat. Rest tofu on a wire rack (this ensures crispiness) while you make your sauce.

4. In a small saucepan, heat up the sriracha, honey and lime juice over medium high heat until slightly reduced and glossy. Drizzle over the tofu pieces and top with sliced green onions. Enjoy immediately!

Thai Green Mango Salad (Som Tum Mamuang)

https://www.lazycatkitchen.pl/tajska-salatka-z-mango/

Saveur.com brings us a refreshing adaptation of this traditional Thai salad, more commonly made using papaya. The favourite fruit of many, mangoes are one of the only fruits that can offer flavour to a dish even in an unripened state!

Servings: 4 – 6

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. small dried shrimp
8 red Thai chiles, stemmed, seeded, and julienned
4 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 shallot, minced
3 small, green unripe mangoes (about 1 1⁄2 lbs.), peeled and julienned
18 green beans, trimmed and cut into 2″ lengths
14 grape tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
4 tsp. palm sugar or brown sugar
2 tbsp. roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

Instructions:

1. Using a mortar and pestle, pound shrimp until coarsely ground; transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

2. Place the chiles, garlic, and shallots in the mortar and pound until bruised. Working in three batches, add mangoes and pound, using a spoon to combine, until softened slightly, 2–3 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.

3. Add green beans and tomatoes to mortar and lightly pound them to extract juices; stir in fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. Transfer to bowl with mango mixture. Toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with crushed dried shrimp and peanuts.