How to make crispy tofu and fast and easy stir-fry sauce with veggies

You can make crispy tofu right in your oven with very little oil. The secret is to extract as much water as you can from your tofu before you cook with it. Watch my method above to see how I make crispy, crunchy tofu.

I've also included a recipe for quick stir-fry sauce and vegetable. This is so easy to make with any left over vegetables you have in your fridge. It takes under 10 minutes to make and goes well with the crispy tofu.

Course Lunch, Main Course, Marinating Sauce

Cuisine Chinese, Fusion

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 40

Stir-fry sauce and vegetables 15

Total Time 1 55

Servings people

Calories 343kcal

Ingredients

Ingredients for Crispy Tofu

1 tbsp tamari sauce
1 tbsp oil (sesame or avacado oil is good here, I used sesame oil)
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1 block extra firm tofu

Ingredients for Stir-Fry Sauce

2 tbsp freshly grated ginger (approximately 1 inch piece of ginger makes 1 tbsp, grate on fine setting)
2 tbsp minced garlic (approximately 3 cloves make 1 tbsp, this depends on the size of your garlic cloves. Use a garlic press to get minced garlic)
1 red chilli (chopped fine)
1/4 cup tamari sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tsp tapioca flour

Ingredients for Stir-Fry Vegetables

1 cup carrots (chopped how you like, I sliced diagonally to get alongated circles)
1 cup broccoli (cut in large florets, use the broccoli stems as well)
1/4 cup broccoli stems (chopped how you like)
1 cup sugar snap peas
1 cup kale (any kind of kale chopped, with or without stems)
3 green onions (finely chopped)
2 tbsp oil (sesame oil is best for this dish, but use oil of your choice)

Instructions

To Make Crispy Tofu in Oven

Start by rinsing tofu and wrapping it in a cheese cloth or a clean tea towel. Place something heavy on top of the tofu to help extract as much water as possible for an hour or so. Once you've extracted as much water as you can, cut tofu into cubes and place in a bowl.
(Tip: a large mason jar with dried beans or a couple of cook books can be placed over the tofu. However, it should'nt be too heavy as your tofu will break).
Make a simple sauce of 1 tbsp tamari sauce + 1 tbsp sesame oil. Pour this over cubed tofu, then sprinkle 1 tbsp of tapioca flour and mix well. Being gentle not to break your tofu cubes.
Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 decgrees Celsius) for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip tofu cubes and bake again for another 20 minutes. Once ready keep aside.

To Make Stir-Fry Sauce

Finely grate 2 tbsps of ginger, mince 2 tbsp of garlic, finely chop 1 large red chili. Measure out 1/4 cup of tamari sauce, 1/4 cup of sesame oil, 1 tsp of tapioca flour, add your ginger, garlic and chili to this and mix well.
Turn heat on low, to a seasoning pot add prepared stir-fry sauce and cook on low flame for 1 minute stiring continously, till your sauce thckens, but does not clump together.
Allow to cool to room temeperature, store in an air tight container in the fridge.

To Make Stir-Fry Vegetables

Chop all the vegetables that you would like to use.
To a wok add about 2 tbsp oil and heat on medium high, add in vegetables based on what takes the longest to cook first, only stir frying each veggie for about a minute or so. Don't overcook.
Finally add broccoli (if using), pour in your stir-fry sauce and mix well. Cook only for a minute. Then add kale or any greens if using and mix well. Turn off heat and add green onions.
Serve with steamed rice and tofu. Also delicious with rice noodles and a protein of your choice such as fish

Note: Ues any vegetables that you like or might be looking to use up. Keep in mind different vegetables cook at diffrent speeds, so first stir-fry the vegetables that take the longest to cook, add in the vegetables that take the quickest to cook at the end such as broccoli and kale.

Nutrition