Family Recipe: Spicy Tofu
Growing up my parents made this delicious spicy tofu dish all the time. Even my dad, who is someone who believes almost no meal is complete without some sort of red meat on the table, is a sincere fan.
I hardly ever cook with tofu (actually I can safely say never until now). I tend to think its a little bland and boring, but this recipe is an exception. I’d been craving it so I had my mom send the recipe my way (via iPhone photo of a very well used, but still legible, page out of a family cookbook).
If you’re a vegetarian (actually, this is vegan), or are just trying to cut down on meat, this is a super cheap, healthy and comforting alternative. Plus, its super easy - aside from chopping the ingredients, the whole process takes around 10 minutes. I double the recipe so I have plenty of leftovers - it’s great the next day.
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
3 green onions, finely sliced into rounds
1 lb tofu, cut into 1” cubes
(I prefer to use extra firm tofu so it holds up to the stir frying)
Sauce ingredients
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp chili paste -
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
Directions
Begin by making the sauce. Start with the cornstarch in a medium sized bowl. Slowly add the chicken or vegetable stock to the cornstarch. Stir constantly to avoid clumping (don’t worry too much about this, the clumps aren’t that hard to break down). Next, mix in the rest of the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil on medium-high in a deep, large frying pan or wok. My mom always uses a wok, but I don’t own one yet so I went for whatever pan I had on hand and it worked just fine. You just have to be more careful to scrape the corners of a regular frying pan.
When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry for a few seconds (careful to not burn the garlic). Add the green onions, stir fry for another few seconds. Add the tofu, stir fry for one minute.
Turn the heat down to medium-low and stir in the sauce. Stir gently to avoid breaking the tofu cubes. The sauce should come to a simmer quickly and the sauce will thicken in just a few minutes - at that point it’s ready to serve.
Serve with your choice of rice. I served mine with rice and my go-to green bean recipe that I’ve shared once before.
