Am I the only one who occasionally gets a real bad craving for tofu? (All of my meat eating friends are rolling their eyes right now and mouthing something like, “stupid,” or “bitch, please!”) Most of them don’t understand how I can be in a relationship with a vegetarian. I actually had one friend look me straight in the eye and say, “I’m sorry,” when I told them that John.e was a vegetarian. It was as if I told them he was dying by means of some tragic, terminal disease!
Vegetarianism is really not that bad! I would never be one; I love pig too much, and not in a Charlotte’s Web or Babe kind of way, but more in a slathered with barbecue sauce, piled high on a toasted bun, with creamy coleslaw, kind of way.
But tofu is good too! (Repeat to self three times.) Seriously though, once you get your head past the blandness that we believe tofu to be, like me, you’ll be experimenting with all kinds of ways to cook with it. Bonus: it is so much cheaper than meat!
Chilli Ginger Vegetable & Tofu Stir Fry
Pin Recipe Save Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
- 350 grams packaged extra firm tofu, drained, dried, and cut into one-inch cubes
- 6 cups broccoli florets
- 1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 medium carrot, julienned
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated
- 1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
- 1/2 cup whole cashews
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- Start by pan-frying the tofu cubes in vegetable oil. On medium heat, allow the tofu to slightly crisp before turning. Turn each piece of tofu on each side to very lightly fry and brown. This is tedious, but crispy tofu is much, much better than soft, heated through tofu. Once done, remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Next, sauté the onions, peppers, carrots, garlic, and ginger. Add some salt and pepper and sauté until the onions are just cooked. Do not overlook as these ingredients will be cooked more later. Remove from pan and set aside.
- To the pan, add 1/4 cup of water and bring to a slight boil. Add the broccoli florets and cook on medium high heat for exactly three minutes. Don’t forget to season with salt. Remove from pan and set aside.
- At this point, you should have a bowl of fried tofu, a bowl of peppers and onions, and a bowl of broccoli.
- With your large sauté pan on medium heat, add a little vegetable oil, the soy sauce, and the hoisin sauce. Move the pan around to mix the three ingredients together.
- Reintroduce the tofu to the pan. Carefully turning the tofu into the sauce, cook for three minutes. Add back the onions and peppers. Continue to cook for another three minutes. At this point, add the chilli flakes and the sesame seeds. Stir to incorporate all ingredients.
- Add the broccoli back into the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until the broccoli has finished cooking. For all that is sacred and holy, do not over cook the broccoli. There’s absolutely nothing worse! Well, maybe terrorism, but that’s about it!!
- You’re almost done. Toss in the cashews, toss the whole mixture together and you’re ready to eat! I would serve this with some plain cooked brown rice or just as it is!
Have I managed to change how you feel about tofu? Even just a little bit? 🙂
Bonnie says
My children 19 & 14 yrs old are both vegetarians , and have been for about 8 years now. Even as little kids they didn’t want to eat meat ,they didn’t like the feel of it when it would get stuck between their teeth. I would hide it with other foods. For example : fish could easily be hidden in mashed potato and I put eggs in everything, the public heath nurse told me to feed meat to them for breakfast if that was the only time I could get them to eat it….lol I eventually learned that the only way they are gonna get protein was buy eating meat alturnatives , so I would buy all kinds of nuts for snacking on. My daughter who is in university now is the queen of healthy eating, vegetarian style ( and I even like tofu) . I can honestly say they were born herbivores…lol
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thanks for your comments, Bonnie!
Boy, I wish I could say that I was born a herbivore! 🙂 I do enjoy cooking vegetarian food. For me, the trick is to make it taste like it’s loaded with meat.
crazycatgrrl says
Have you ever tried Tofu Banh Mi? I have been obsessed since I tried it at a local food truck. I did a Meatless Monday roundup a while back and that is included as one of the recipes – really good and easy to make (but what isn’t good when it involves a baguette?)
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hi CrazyCatGirlBlog…
I have not tried Tofu Banh Mi, but now you’ve certainly got my attention! I’ll give anything a go at least once. 🙂
Brian Jones says
I have in the past struggled with tofu and would usually avoid it on the menu if I saw it, however I have had a few tofu dishes recently that blew me away… It is definitely on the ‘no fly list’ to our corner of Hungary though so very difficult to experiment with, other wise I would give this a go, it sounds delicious.
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thank you, Brian. I was terrified of tofu until two or three years ago. Now, I love it, but only in moderation.
Mrinmay Kulkarni says
Oh man, its 2 AM here and now Im craving for this! Going to make this first thing tomorrow morning for lunch (on holiday so mornings begin at noon for me now a days haha!) Thanks for sharing the recipe!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
You’re thinking of stir fry at 2am? I admire that! 🙂 Thanks for dropping by… hope to hear from you again real soon. Cheers!
Mrinmay says
I guess I forgot about this totally! Anyway, I tried this and it tasted so good – thanks for sharing :)!