I was craving a stir fry with those delicate little rice noodles and a salty, spicy, curry based sauce this week, so I revisited my original recipe for Singapore Noodles, increased the curry powder (because I wanted FLA-VOR), threw in some crispy pan fried tofu, and a bag of Slaw mix. <— That’s me being too exhausted from holiday madness to chop my own veggies, but the price wasn’t bad and now I don’t have leftover cabbage and carrots to contend with! The result was a huge batch of scrumptious Singapore Noodles with Crispy Tofu that has tempted me for lunch, dinner, and late night noshing sessions ever since.
Meal Prep your Singapore Noodles with Crispy Tofu
This recipe makes a LOT, so it’s great for busy times like this pre-holiday week. The leftovers reheat really well, so I’ve got meals ready to go for a few days, at least. As with anything fried, the tofu doesn’t stay crispy upon reheating, but the flavor is so great that I don’t really even care. The noodles stay moist and flavorful, so it’s all good.
Alternatives to Crispy Tofu
If you don’t want to do tofu in your Singapore Noodles, you could scramble 4-6 eggs in their place, or do both! And of course meat or shrimp are always options as well. Whether it’s tofu, eggs, meat, or shrimp, make sure to sauté your protein first, remove it from the skillet, then add it back in at the end. This does two things: it leaves room in the skillet so that everything stir fries properly and it prevents those proteins from over cooking.
Singapore Noodles with Crispy Tofu
Servings 6Ingredients
CRISPY TOFU
- 14 oz firm or extra firm tofu ($1.49)
- Pinch of salt ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.08)
- 1.5 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.03)
STIR FRY SAUCE
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.33)
- 1 Tbsp Sriracha ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar ($0.11)
- 2 Tbsp mild curry powder* ($0.30)
STIR FRY
- 8 oz rice vermicelli or rice sticks ($2.99)
- 1.5 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.03)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 4 green onions, divided ($0.20)
- 9 oz bag shredded cabbage and carrots ($1.99)
Instructions
- Remove the tofu from the package and wrap it in a clean, lint-free towel, or paper towels. Place the wrapped tofu between two cutting boards or plates, and place something heavy on top (books, a pot of water, etc.). Press the tofu for about 30 minutes to extract the excess moisture.
- While the tofu is pressing, prepare the stir fry sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, rice vinegar, and curry powder. Set the sauce aside.
- Place the rice noodles in a casserole dish or large bowl and pour boiling water over top. Let the noodles soak for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Drain the noodles in a colander and set them aside until needed.
- Once the tofu has pressed, cut it into small cubes (3/4 to 1-inch). Place the cubes in a bowl and season with a pinch of salt. Sprinkle the cornstarch over top and gently toss until the cubes are coated.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add one to 1.5 Tbsp cooking oil and tilt the skillet to distribute it over the surface. Add the cornstarch coated tofu cubes and cook until golden brown and crispy on all sides. Remove the tofu from the skillet.
- While the tofu is cooking, mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Slice the green onions, separating the white ends from the green ends.
- After removing the tofu from the skillet, add a bit more cooking oil along with the ginger, garlic, and the white ends of the sliced green onions. Sauté for about one minute, or just until they begin to soften.
- Add the bag of shredded cabbage and carrots and continue to sauté for about one minute more. Only sauté the cabbage until it looks like it’s just beginning to wilt.
- Add the drained rice noodles, prepared sauce, and fried tofu cubes back to the skillet. Carefully stir and toss the contents of the skillet until everything is combined and coated with sauce. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the green ends of the green onions over top.
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Notes
Nutrition
Did I mention how good this curry stir fry sauce is? I’m tempted to mix up a jar of it and just keep it in my fridge for quick weeknight leftover stir-fries.
How to Make Singapore Noodles – Step by Step Photos
Start by pressing a 14oz. block of firm or extra firm tofu (either will work, but firm will be a little more delicate than extra firm). Wrap the tofu in a clean, lint-free cloth or a few layers of paper towel. Place the wrapped tofu between two cutting boards (or large plates), and place something heavy on top. Let it sit for 30 minutes to press out the excess moisture.
While the tofu is pressing, prepare the stir fry sauce. In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp sriracha, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, and 2 Tbsp curry powder. Set the sauce aside.
These are probably the five ingredients that I most often have questions about, so here is a photo so you can see what they are. :) All of these can usually be found at any major grocery store, but will be less expensive at Asian food markets. That 365 soy sauce is extremely good, BTW, and inexpensive.
Now it’s time to prepare the rice noodles/sticks/vermicelli. This is what they look like in the package. This 8oz. pack was $2.99 at my local grocery store, but would have probably been about 1/3 that price at an Asian grocery store. So, keep that in mind.
Place the noodles in a large, heat proof dish or bowl and pour boiling water over top. Let the noodles sit for 5 minutes, or until tender (you could also just plop them into a large pot of boiling water, turn off the heat, and let them sit).
Once they’re tender, drain them in a colander and set them aside.
Once the tofu has been pressed, cut it into small cubes. Place the cubes in a bowl and season with a pinch of salt. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp cornstarch over top and gently toss until they’re well coated.
Heat a large skillet over medium flame until very hot. Once hot, add one to 1.5 Tbsp cooking oil. Tilt the skillet to coat the surface, then add the tofu cubes until they’re golden brown and crispy on all sides. Remove them from the skillet. The trick to getting them to NOT stick in a stainless steel skillet is to A) don’t add the oil until the skillet is hot and B) don’t try to stir or flip the tofu cubes until they’re browned. They will “release” from the surface once they develop a crispy crust.
While the tofu is frying (since you don’t want to stir it too often), mince two cloves of garlic and grate about 1 Tbsp fresh ginger. Slice four green onions, separating the white ends from the green ends
After removing the crispy tofu, add a little more cooking oil to the skillet, along with the minced garlic, grated ginger, and the white ends of the green onion. Sauté for about one minute.
This is the bag of shredded cabbage and carrots that I used. Definitely a time saver and now I don’t have to try to use up leftover green cabbage, purple cabbage, AND carrots.
Pour the entire bag of shredded vegetables into the skillet and sauté very briefly (about 1-2 minutes, or JUST until it starts to wilt).
Immediately add the drained noodles, prepared sauce, and crispy tofu. Toss it all together until everything is coated in sauce and well mixed.
Sprinkle the remaining green ends of the green onions over top and enjoy!
I hadn’t noticed how much curry went into this until I was making it. It’s good, but you definitely need to like curry. It dominates the taste of everything.
I like this recipe! But the first time I made it, I agree the curry flavor and the saltiness from the soy sauce was way too strong. She did say to use MILD curry powder which I definitely did not have!
Since I couldn’t find a mild curry powder at my local Asian market, here is how I changed the sauce the second time I made it:
Sauce:
– 2 Tbsp Thai black soy sauce (aka Chinese dark soy sauce. It has a sweet almost molasses flavor instead of the salty Japanese shoyu soy sauce)
– 2 Tbsp low sodium (Japanese) soy sauce
– 1 Tbsp curry powder (I used S&B brand)
– 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
– 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
– 1 tsp sriracha (or to taste)
– agave to taste (only if you still need to counteract the bitterness)
This sauce was sweeter which worked with the bitterness and spiciness of the curry powder I had.
Hope this helps if you too couldn’t find a mild curry powder!
This was so delicious I had half a green cabbage and shredded a carrot instead of buying bagged veggies not too salty at all, although I love a good salty dish so to me it was great
So delicious! I marinated the tofu in sesame oil and soy sauce and air fried it separately, while the noodles and cabbage were stir fried. A culinary treat! The whole family enjoyed this, this will be on the make again list for sure! Thanks for another great recipe!
I would give it a 10 star rate if I could. Lost count of how many times I made this recipe. The recipe does not ask for salt in the sauce so if yours is getting salty is because of the soy sauce you are using, try to change the brand or use the “less sodium” instead. It’s my husband’s favorite. The only change I’ve made recently is steaming the tofu. This recipe is perfect no need of changes. I really appreciate people who create and share recipes, they are super helpful. Thank you so much Beth.
Made this on Monday. Finished my leftovers today, felt sad, which is the best thing from any recipes! I couldn’t get tofu where I am, so I used scrambled eggs instead. I also made my own curry powder, and bloomed them in the pan before stir frying the rest.
Terrific kick! Kids love to eat in cold also the next day for lunch. I used low sodium kikkoman and powdered ginger.
We absolutely LOVED THIS! I was a little worried as I’d never tried tofu before and wasn’t sure I would like it. It came out really well and we loved it! I made it for a girlfriend, and she asked for the recipe, and now it’s a favorite in her house too.
Thanks for another awesome recipe to add to my dinner rotation! This is a new favorite in our house!
Thank you for this menu and recipe noodles is soo good and excellent i wish that i saw the video
I’m just checking this out in search of a use for tofu, and I see a lot of complaints that this is too salty. Some curry powders have salt in them, in my experience quite a lot, so I imagine with the other ingredients it would be overpowering. Probably need to check your curry powder contents first, and perhaps make a note of this in the recipe?
I love a lot of recipes on this site, but this was a miss for me. I found the sauce to be pretty boring and a bit too salty. There wasn’t much for dynamic flavor here, unfortunately. I didn’t even keep the leftovers, which is very unlike me.
Excessively salty and the flavours do not meld. I am a curry Lover but it just does not work.
This was my first time cooking with tofu, and it turned out great! I liked the sauce, and didn’t think it was too salty. I substituted chili garlic sauce instead of sriracha.
Disappointing… The sauce was way too salty. I suggest (but never tried) to put 1/8 cup of soy sauce and 1/8 cup of water.
I used Hoisin sauce to help cut the salt, but I think using brown sugar would also cut the saltiness back to a balance. It was missing that extra hint of sweetness to balance it out. I also recommend doubling the amount of garlic, but that might just be me!
We did not enjoy this at all. It smelled so good and we were all so excited to dig in, but I t was very disappointing. Not sure if I did something wrong, but the sauce was way too overpowering and bitter.