The soy chunks are really whirling around our kitchen these days! But we don’t mind at all! Today I am sharing a delicious recipe made with soy chunks, delicious vegetables and a portion of noodles with you!
Originally I wanted to make this recipe with glass noodles or vermicelli noodles, but when I went to my Chinese toko earlier in the day for a number of ingredients that I no longer had at home, I saw some very strange noodles and decided to take them with me take them with me to use immediately. I also did this to show Luis that I don’t always keep everything and then lose it in the back of a cupboard. Because I will hear that for years to come, believe me.
Soy chunks are really great for cooking. They fit in almost any dish and you often cannot even taste that it is not meat, especially if you prepare them well. I am very happy that I can share my knowledge about this with you, because it is just a great product that not enough people use!
My father is not much of a meat eater. Since he grew up as a vegetarian, he doesn’t really miss the taste or texture of meat in dishes. That’s why he says every time I have to stop saying that a dish does not contain meat. “It’s just good, so enjoy it!” Haha, what a joker. I am just happy every time that it is tasty and my dishes still have a kind of bite, because I am almost certain that people who are used to meat would miss this in a dish.
While preparing this dish, I finally used up the bottles of Asian sauces I bought from Amazon last year at the start of the lockdown in Spain. We couldn’t leave the house and everything was closed, and of course I really wanted to cook Asian food. Fortunately, the shops here are now open and I can go out and buy and choose my favorite things as usual.
And now it is time to start making the dish. In half an hour you’ll have a delicious lunch or dinner on the table for 3 to 4 people. Or 4 meals to eat yourself spread out over the week, of course.
Ingredients
I got 4 large bowls from these quantities. The bowls were not as big as in the picture, because eating such a big bowl is too much of a good thing. After taking the picture, I divided the bowl in the photo into two bowls.
- 2 eggplants
- 1 zucchini
- 150 gr soy chunks
- 1 bell pepper
- 3 tablespoons of smoked paprika powder
- 3 cloves of garlic
- sunflower oil
Marinade
- 100 ml soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
- 50 ml of rice vinegar
- 40 ml of mirin or 1 tablespoon of brown sugar dissolved in 30 ml of lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons of sesame
- 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
- pepper
Toppings
- spring onion
- chili flakes
- sesame seeds
Preparation
First, soak your soy chunks in lukewarm water for 20 minutes. Drain them, rinse them for a while and squeeze out the excess water. Bring a pan with plenty of water to the boil. Boil your desired noodles according to package instructions, then drain and rinse with cold water.
Meanwhile, cut the eggplants and zucchini. Cut the eggplants into strips. The zucchini in half, then the two halves in thirds and each of the pieces that you get in thirds again. Cut the bell pepper into strips as well.
In a large bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients and add the zucchini and eggplant. Stir gently so that everything is well covered and let the vegetables marinate for about 15 minutes.
Place a large frying pan on the stove and heat a little bit of sunflower oil. Add the ginger, garlic and soy chunks to the oil. Turn up the heat and stir well. Add the 3 tablespoons paprika and salt and pepper and stir everything well. If the pan gets dry, add a little more oil. When the soy chunks seem seared, move them to one side of the pan and add the marinade and vegetables. Let everything bake for a few minutes while you stir both halves a bit.
Stir everything together and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then add the noodles and mix everything until it becomes one.
Serve this dish straight from the pan and sprinkle your desired toppings on top.
Voilà, a delicious and healthy bowl on the table in less than half an hour!
The result
The noodles I bought ended up being big, white and very mealy. I didn’t expect that at all, but mixed with the dish they were very tasty! The noodles gave a kind of fluffiness that I can’t put into words otherwise. And this is also why I love to keep discovering what the Asian tokos sell here. Eventually you will find out what you like!
Making these kinds of recipes remains fun to do. Often I just get the recipe on the spot, but of course I don’t know the quantities yet. Often before I go to sleep, all kinds of ideas come into my brain and I thought I should write them down immediately. I sometimes find myself thinking, oh tomorrow I’ll remember, but no, then I’ll seem to have forgotten the ideas again the next morning! But that is life too, and if it is really important, such an idea will come back automatically!
Well friends, a new week is waiting for us! Give it all you can, and enjoy!
Have you ever tried a recipe with soy chunks? Then I am really very curious about this. Would you like to share your findings with me?
