Fragrant Coconut Ramen With Crispy Tofu

Drain your tofu and cut lengthways into 3 slices per person, then pat dry with kitchen paper

Add the sliced tofu to a bowl with half your soy sauce (save the rest for later!) and give everything a good mix up – this is your marinated tofu

Add your panko breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt to a plate, pressing the marinated tofu into the panko breadcrumbs firmly, until evenly coated all over – this is your coated tofu

Boil a kettle

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Once hot, add the coated tofu and cook for 5-6 min on each side or until golden and crispy all over, then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and reserve the pan – this is your crispy tofu

While the tofu is cooking, peel and roughly chop your garlic

Peel (scrape the skin off with a teaspoon) and roughly chop your ginger

Peel and roughly chop your shallot[s]

Slice your red chilli[es] finely

Add the chopped shallot, garlic, ginger and half the sliced chilli (can't handle the heat? Go easy!) to a food processor

Add 2 tbsp [3 tbsp] [4 tbsp] cold water, 1 tsp [1 1/2 tsp] [2 tsp] sugar and a pinch of salt and blitz to a paste – this is your fiery curry paste

Return the reserved pan to a medium heat

Once hot, add the fiery curry paste and cook for 2-3 min or until fragrant

Meanwhile, chop your creamed coconut roughly (if required!)

Dissolve your vegetable stock mix and chopped creamed coconut in 700ml [1L] [1.3L] boiled water – this is your coconut stock

Once fragrant, add your tomato paste to the pan and cook for 1 min

Add the coconut stock with the remaining soy sauce and toasted sesame oil and bring to the boil

Once boiling, add your wholewheat noodles and cook for 2 min or until beginning to soften

While the noodles are cooking, wash, then, slice your pak choi in quarters lengthways and pat dry with kitchen paper

Wash your spinach, then pat dry with kitchen paper

Once the noodles are beginning to soften, add the pak choi quarters and cook for 4-5 min further

After 4-5 min, add the spinach to the pan and cook for 1 min or until the noodles are cooked with a slight bite, the pak choi is tender and the spinach has wilted – this is your fragrant coconut ramen