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Brothy Thai Curry With Silken Tofu and Herbs
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2(14-ounce) packages silken tofu, drained
- 2tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed
- 2shallots, peeled and minced
- 3garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 1(1-inch) piece ginger, scrubbed and grated
- 3tablespoons red curry paste
- 1(14-ounce) can cherry tomatoes or fresh cherry tomatoes
- 1quart vegetable stock
- 1(13½-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- Salt and black pepper
- ¼cup soy sauce
- 1½cups mixed fresh herbs, such as cilantro, basil and dill
- 2scallions, thinly sliced
- 1lime, cut into wedges, for squeezing
Preparation
- Step 1
Pat the tofu blocks dry with a clean kitchen or paper towel. Cut each block into 3 slices.
- Step 2
Heat a medium Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high. Add the oil and shallots, and stir until softened, 2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and curry paste, stir, and cook until fragrant and the paste turns deep red, 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the tomato juices thicken slightly, 4 minutes.
- Step 3
Pour in the vegetable stock, stir, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer to slightly reduce the liquid, 10 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, season to taste with salt and remove from the heat.
- Step 4
While the broth is simmering, divide the soft tofu into 6 bowls. Break each slice into 4 or 5 pieces. Season each bowl of tofu with 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and a few cracks of black pepper, and top with about ¼ cup of the fresh herb mix.
- Step 5
Ladle the hot broth and tomatoes over the bowls of silken tofu. Top with sliced scallions and serve hot, with lime wedges for squeezing.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Scallions are easy to grow. Save the bottom bit with the roots and stick in water or dirt. I started doing this at the beginning of the pandemic and now have a bumper crop!
This is my basic Thai red curry recipe but I alternate tofu, shrimp or chicken. The curry itself freezes extremely well. Cook longer if you want a thicker sauce to use over stir fried veggies, rice or noodles.
Before scallions got outrageous, I started cutting halfway up the white and sticking them in the ground. You harvest them the same way and they grow back over and over. I haven't bought scallions for years now.
I made this exactly as written, and the flavors of the broth are delicious. This was my first time eating silken tofu, and I really liked the texture it added. However, there has to be a way to warm it up. As soon as the hot broth hit the cold tofu, the whole thing was lukewarm with cold bites of tofu. If I make this again, I might cut the tofu up into pieces and heat it with the broth.
I learned how to warm silken tofu from Fuchsia Dunlop’s marvelous cookbooks. Bring a small pan of lightly salted water to a soft boil, scoop out large chunks of silken tofu and submerge them, and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. The same technique can be used for firm tofu, but be careful not to go above a gentle simmer, as boiling renders the tofu porous.
Also depends on the brand you use. Thai Kitchens is relatively low on heat (and flavor). Mae Ploy is relatively high on heat (and flavor). Given that the paste is diluted by more than six cups of liquid, two or three tablespoons of Thai Kitchens should be relatively mild. Half that for Mae Ploy.
Add 1 tbsp fish sauce
What about not adding any salt to the recipe, using reduced sodium soy sauce and low sodium /no sodium vegetable stock to lower the sodium content in the soup, if it is a concern? Everyone should always cook with their health front and center and alter recipes in a way that is still pleasing but healthier if necessary. That squeeze of lime juice will help trick your taste buds into not missing all that sodium!
The curry was decent, not too hot as written, so there's room to amp it up. In my opinion, the addition of cherry tomatoes was odd in this recipe. I used fresh (imported, because...January in the Midwest) but I felt they were more of a nuisance, bobbing in the broth, rather than an enhancement. Like others, I added bok choy; other greens would work well, too. I served over rice noodles because it is a bit sparse without.
Scallions are shockingly expensive these days. Try this with shallots or red onions instead. Adds crunch and a bit more sharpness than scallions but... pandemic & supply chain be dam_ed.
Did this as-is with exception of putting some bok choi on top for a little greens. Used fresh cherry tomatoes - about 1.5 cups of not a touch more - but before throwing them in dice them up so they release their juices. Would probably go with canned next time. A splash of fish sauce/colatura to give a touch of depth would help but maybe tomorrow the leftovers will mature more as all dishes like this do.
At step 3, when heat reduced to medium, I added some chopped red pepper, broccoli florets and sugar-snap peas - the veggies cooked in the broth. As we are not vegetarian, I used shredded cooked leftover chicken - added at the end of Step 3, after the coconut milk, and warmed through Left out Steps 4 and 5, obviously Topped the curry with spring onions ('scallions') which are cheap here in the UK ,and Thai Basil and Coriander (Cilantro)
I use both green and red curry paste frequently and usually use 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) which is still quite spicy, so I would use much less if your family doesn't like things "hot" --- certainly no more than one tablespoon.
Following the advice given I doubled the curry paste. We wanted a full meal out of this so I added whatever veggies I had in fridge: sliced carrots, red onion , slivered cabbage, cut green beans and shiitake mushrooms. Didn’t have silken tofu but did have firm so diced firm tofu also went in. It was fabulous and a great meatless meal. Will make again.
Do you think this could work with Green vs Red Curry paste? I'd hate to have to buy a special jar of Red Curry paste when I already have and normally use Green... Tx.
I really enjoyed this recipe. It's got a pretty great effort / flavor ratio -- not hard to make, fairly delicious.
This was good, but had nowhere near the heat that I prefer. I will have to add a bunch before I serve it again tonight. This made about 6 portions and is an excellent meal planning idea! Also, you can't just put cold tofu in a broth and expect that to work so I sauteed the tofu in sesame oil, set it aside in a container that preserves heat, and added it in at the end.
So delicious! I used green curry paste because it was what was available to me and it worked. Also broiled some cherry tomatoes for the topping and they added umami and more contrast. I did not have vegetable stock so I added some dry mushrooms and they definitely did the trick. This dish made me feel good all around; comforted and nourished.
A great basic recipe! At the risk of departing too far from the original recipe, I have used roasted winter squash chunks (kuri, honeynut, or butternut) in the soup. After adding the curry paste, I add the squash and stock, and simmer until tender, then use an immersion blender. Then add the coconut milk. With fresh sweet cherry tomatoes, I halve them, and add them uncooked to the tofu, before pouring the soup over.
This recipe is great! Make it. As written, it's wonderful. I have been adding quartered cremini mushrooms after adding the tomatoes, and it's awesome.
Change that to 1 scant Tbsp
We loved this soup, the flavors were delicious! The suggestions from readers were also helpful... so I added some more veggies, a few curry leaves and a little fish sauce. The base is great, though. Thank you for this recipe!
I was amazed how good this was because it was simple to make. I followed the recipe, making only 3 additions. I had galangal root and makrut limes leaves in my freezer, so I added those at the same time as I added the cherry tomatoes. I also added 1/2 cup water at the cherry tomatoes stage to speed up breaking down the tomatoes. While the broth was boiling, I separately boiled a small pot of salted water with sliced sugar snap peas for 2 minutes and added those with the herbs at the end.
This is one of my favorite dishes and is good with both red or green curry paste.
Where has this broth been all my life?? The flavor is so complex and so easy to make. Instead of tofu, I add in the soy sauce and a ton of veggies in the middle of step 3 before the 10 min simmer. And just use a can of diced tomatoes instead of cherry. This soup only gets better after it sits in the fridge for a few days. Great leftovers.
My BF and I are wimps for spice so I added about .5-1 cup oat milk and it made for an addictively creamy broth
This is one of those dishes that I can’t believe I made myself. In my own kitchen!! So, so good. I added bok choy, and would certainly add mushrooms and broccoli as others have said, but I wish I hadn’t added salt. There is one Italian brand of canned cherry tomatoes at my Market Basket and I’m so glad I used them, though then thought I might use last season’s frozen cherry tomatoes, too.. but not fresh because I want them to cook down. Now I want to try with green curry, too. So good.
Used many recommendations from others here: added 2 kaffir lime leaves (but should have served w lime wedges), ~1 tbsp fish sauce, soba noodles and the veggies I had on hand: red bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms, n shredded kale.
This was not good. Choose any curry recipe! Save yourself.
*cut up tofu and soak in hot water to warm *in each bowl put ramen and tofu, pour curry over *add soy sauce directly to curry *added yellow pepper and broccoli for last 6 min. *mix of cilantro and basil
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