Asian Tofu Stir Fry

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Hope everyone had a great long weekend. I don’t always have off on holidays in the medical world and I was off yesterday which was awesome. Cheers to long weekends J

Today let’s talk about tofu, a popular meat substitute that most vegans and vegetarians swear by. Although I’m neither vegan nor vegetarian I do eat meat pretty sparingly… so tofu is a house staple. Tofu is low in cholesterol, fat, sodium, and calories, and is a good source of protein, phosphorus, selenium, copper, magnesium, calcium, and manganese.  I adore plant protein, sorry paleo friends, meat is just gross sometimes.

Anyways I get a ton of questions about how to prepare tofu from people… and there is one KEY step in tofu preparation… PRESSING IT! Pressing tofu pushes out the excess water and allows the tofu to soak up more flavor of the marinade. Some people own an actual tofu press but usually I wrap my tofu in a dish towel and put a cast iron pan on top. I know some people use cookbooks or cookie sheets with cans on top, basically you just need something flat and heavy. Some people also prefer paper towels but I like to keep it green and I feel like the towel soaks up more water. After pressing tofu I recommend allowing it to marinate for 20-30 minutes. Then you basically cook it how you would chicken or any other meat, on the stove top pan fried, or baked in the oven. (Pictured below is my homemade tofu press complete with dish towel and cast iron pan).

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I’m sharing a very simple Asian inspired tofu dish. My husband, Pat, isn’t the biggest tofu fan but when I made this last week, he loved it. This is definitely a good dish to make for those trying tofu for the first time or for meat lovers.

Ingredients:

For the Sauce/Marinade:

1 lime, juiced

1/4 cup PB

1 1/2 TBSP ginger

2 TBSP rice vinegar

2 TBSP soy sauce

2TBSP warm water to thin

For the Stir Fry:

1 TBSP sesame oil

2 cloves garlic

1 small yellow onion

1 block tofu extra firm tofu

1 cup shredded carrots

1 red bell pepper

1 handful spinach

Directions:

1. Press tofu (cast iron pan as previously explained) for at least ½ hour

2. Mix together ingredients for sauce and allow tofu to marinate for 20-30 minutes

2. Chop and shred veggies

3. Add sesame oil to pan, add onions and allow to cook down for several minutes

4. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, don’t let garlic burn or brown completely

5. Add bell peppers and carrots and cook for a few minutes

6. Add tofu and sauce/marinade and cook for 10 minutes flipping tofu over halfway through cooking*

7. Add spinach and allow to wilt

8. Make sure sauce is evenly mixed throughout veggies and tofu and serve

*You can cook tofu and sauce/marinade in separate pan if the veggie pan becomes too crowded

Have you ever had tofu before? Have you ever made tofu before!?

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