[Tofu] Pakapau [Homegrrl Guest Blog: Renai]

There is something about Asian food that I absolutely adore. It is extremely easy to customize to  dietary needs in terms of the type of meat/poultry/fish/tofu used. It also tends to be a lot healthier without comprimising taste. Thai food is one of my favorites so I was very excited when my girlfriend, Renai, told me she was going to be making this Thai dish with her boyfriend this weekend. I was so glad she decided to share this recipe. She is one of the most amazing souls I have been blessed to encounter and maintain a friendship with over so many years! I really believe that this world needs more strong womyn like her- full of genuine positive energy and love. :] I have to give a special Homie shout out to Shaun (one of my husband's old BMX homies) because he ended up making the meal tonight, while Renai supervised and enjoyed some wine. What a lucky girl! Here is her write-up! I cannot wait to try it!

My darling of a boyfriend made TOFU PAKAPAU tonight. It was pretty tasty. It's the first time I had it with tofu. My boyfriend's step-mother is from Thailand and she made us beef pakapow and this is the recipe... (since I am vegetarian now and I live with vegetarians, we use tofu!) This serves four people.

Ingredients:

Beef, Chicken, pork, or tofu. - (1lb ground or chopped)
Bouillon (Beef, Chicken, Pork) If you're vegetarian you can use Not-Beef bouillon, picture below. (Once Cube for PAKAPAU. One cube to marinate the tofu.)
Green Beans - (One Can)
Green Onions - (About six stocks, chopped.)
Garlic- 4 Medium cloves (minced or finally chopped.)
Thai Red Chilies -15 hot, 10-med, 5-7 mild. (minced or finely chopped)
Olive Oil 3-4 tablespoons.
White Rice -One and a Half cups. (You can substitute for brown rice, too)

(I live in a small town, and the closest Asian market is an hour away, so I had my Thai step-mother-in-law? send me some Chile pace, called Pad Kapow. Because I didn't have access to Thai Red Chilies. But if you're in Yuma... I'm sure they sell them at the Oriental Gift shop.)

1. I used tofu because  I'm vegetarian, but the beef is so good! We marinated our tofu with half of a Not-Beef Bullion cube for about an hour. Poured the water out, then Shaun pressed the tofu for about an hour, and poured the excess liquid out again.



After my tofu was pressed, we started working on my white rice. We used my mother-in-law's rice steamer, but if you don't have one, no worries! That was my first time using it. I actually really loved it. I would totally invest in it.



Since, I didn't have Thai Chile's...this is the paste that I used guys. It was pretty good, but it taste so much more legit when you have the Thai Chilies. This paste basically cancels out your Thai Chile and your garlic.



We used one can of green beans, and about six stocks of green onions.



Got my ingredients out, took out our tofu... Shaun's ready to get started!



You're going to want to chop your tofu into very small pieces.



In Skillet/Wok over Med-High heat, add oil... Once hot, add garlic and chilies OR 4-6 scoops of paste. Stir-Fry for about 3-5 minutes.
Add your meat or non-meat, stirring until cooked thoroughly

after this you add your green beans and green onions, and cook it for 1-2 minutes, and voila! You're done.



It should look like this! You serve it in a bowl. Rice, obviously goes down first, with pakapow on top. You can flavor it with Chile garlic sauce if you love the hotness, or you could use soy? it has plenty flavor though, so it's delicious solo! Enjoy with some wine! Probably a white wine since the food is a bit spicy... red wine tends to make it hotter.



Best regards,
Renai L. Williams

Thank you so much, Renai, for the awesome recipe & Shaun for cooking it!! I cannot wait to try it! Let us know if anyone tries it, as well!