discovery

Quite by accident we stumbled across an fantastic market with all kinds of Asian and Latin American items. I stocked up on baby bok choi, tofu, rice noodles, fish sauce, limes, plantains and this ultra fragrant, purple-flecked ginger. It was an amazing place, stall after stall of knobby yuca, tiny dried shrimp, slightly tired looking Chinese long beans and pig parts galore. Much stir fry and fried rice ensued. Madrid has become such an international city and the foods of the South American, Chinese, African and other immigrants are slowly making their way to Spanish tables. Lucky for the intrepid culinary adventurer, there are more and more places to find these and other delicious ingredients! This is particularly exciting because as we all know, a girl cannot live on Spanish tortilla and Manchego alone (as much as she may want to).

Mercado de Mostenses Stir Fry

1 package extra firm tofu cut in thin rectangles
1/2 package thin rice noodles
3 carrots finely chopped
4 baby bok choi, leaves separated
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
5 scallions finely chopped (white and half of green parts)


Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbl sugar
juice of 1 lime
1 tbl fish sauce

Garnish
handful chopped peanuts
little lime slices

1. In a large skillet, heat a nice glug of oil and saute tofu until brown and crispy, about five minutes per side. This will take a few batches, you don't want to crowd the pan. Drain tofu on a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with salt. When cool enough to handle, chop or tear into nice, toothsome chunks.

2. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add noodles and let cook according to package instructions. Cook them to slightly underdone so they can absorb the stir fry sauce without falling apart! Drain and rinse with cold water to keep the stickies away.

4. In a clean skillet, heat a little more oil and add garlic, half of the scallions and ginger. Saute until fragrant and garlic is starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add carrots and a little sauce and let cook until starting to soften, about 4 minutes. Next, throw in baby bok choi leaves and give it a good stir. Add tofu, the remaining sauce and give it another nice stir. Throw in noodles and mix it all up. Let the mixture sit for a minute or two to heat up. Serve sprinkled with peanuts, remaining scallions and with little lime wedges!

Hola!

Welcome to a fun project called "let's see what Margit eats/cooks/finds in Spain." My plan is to write about all of the delicious items I encounter (with fun visual aids as well provided by Alvaro, the super photographer!) You can look forward to recipes, an American in Madrid anecdotes and general hilarity.

Yum!


I'll keep you posted! (Little blog humor, ha!)