Serves 2
Preparation time 15 minutes, plus draining
Cooking time 10 minutes
125 g (4 oz) firm tofu, diced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
75 g (3 oz) fine dried rice noodles
600 ml (1 pint) vegetable Stock
2.5 cm (1 inch) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
1 large garlic clove, thickly sliced
3 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half
2 lemon grass stalks, tough outer layers removed, halved
handful of spinach or pak choi leaves
50 g (2 oz) bean sprouts
1–2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh coriander
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
Put the tofu on a plate covered with kitchen paper. Leave to stand for 10 minutes to drain.
Heat the sesame oil in a wok or large nonstick frying pan until hot, add the tofu and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Meanwhile, soak the rice noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain well.
Pour the stock into a large heavy-based saucepan. Add the ginger, garlic, lime leaves and lemon grass and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the tofu, drained noodles, spinach or pak choi, bean sprouts and chillies and heat through for 2 minutes.
Stir in the coriander and fish sauce, then pour into warm deep soup bowls. Serve hot with lime wedges and chilli sauce if liked.
For Thai prawn & noodle soup, omit the tofu and soak and drain the noodles as above. Pour the vegetable stock into a saucepan and add the ginger, garlic and 2 teaspoons Thai green curry paste. Bring to the boil. Add 125 g (4 oz) thawed small frozen prawns and the drained noodles, spinach or pak choi, bean sprouts and chillies. Cook until the prawns are piping hot, then mix in the chopped coriander and serve.