Tofu Lo Mein

I adapted this recipe from the Chicken Lo Mein recipe in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. It was so tasty there were no leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 6-8 oz of tofu, pressed and cut into small cubes (probably 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 Tb. oyster sauce
• 1 Tb. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 6 oz angel hair pasta (I prefer wheat), or Chinese egg noodles
• 3 Tb. olive oil
• 4 oz. (or 2 1/2 c.) bok choy, cut into 3-inch pieces, (see here for info on how to work with bok choy)
  
• 1/4 c. (or 8 oz can) canned bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained, and sliced (I like to buy them already sliced.)
• 1/4 c. sliced mushrooms
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Optional add ins: scallions, bean sprouts

Directions:

1. Stir cornstarch, salt and 1 tsp of sesame oil together in a medium bowl. Add the tofu and stir to coat. Let sit for 10-20 min.
2. Put pasta water on the stove to boil. In the meantime, stir together the water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside. Add noodles to boiling water and cook according to directions on packaging.
   
3. While the noodles cook, chop up your veggies and set aside.
   
4. When the noodles finish, drain and rinse with cold water, and then drain again. Toss the noodles with 1 tsp of sesame oil.
5. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium high heat with 2 Tb. of the olive oil in it. When it is hot add the tofu and stir-fry, cook until the outsides start to get crispy looking.
   
6. Then add last Tb. of oil, along with all the veggies. Stir so all the veggies get coated with the oil (about 45 sec). Then add the water/oyster/soy sauce mix. Stir again and cover to steam the vegetables, about 2-3 minutes. Uncover and add the noodles. Stir, so it all gets mixed together and covered with sauce. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. Then serve!
   

Notes about the recipe:

1. Make sure you don't overcook your noodles. And serving right away is best. We had a little diaper rash emergency right as I was in the last few stages of this recipe, so my noodles were in the pan for a while, which made them start to fall apart. It was still tasty, but probably could have been better if we had gotten to eat it right away.