A Hungry Bear

I know this post is a pretty big departure from the normal meat and potatoes (or meat and pasta) focus of my usual recipes. For whatever reason, maybe some residual effect of seeing Food Inc, I’ve just felt a little more conscious of our meat consumption lately. Nothing extreme, just realizing that I could eat a veg meal once a day and it’s not going to kill me (or weaken my muscles - ahem, power-squatting boyfriend!). And when that a meat-free meal comes along that presents crispy deep-fried goodness with a sweet and spicy sauce - AND a way to use up some of our weekly vegetable share - I just have to share it with you. A was skeptical at first, until he saw the protein content on the label, then he confessed to liking it.

I found this delicious recipe from the Book of Yum blog, and adapted it to include some stir-fried vegetables.

Ingredients: peanut or canola oil for frying, 1 package firm or extra-firm tofu, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (plus more for dusting), 1/2 an onion, handful of fresh white or crimini mushrooms, 1 summer squash, 2-3 small eggplants, handful of string beans, 1.5 cups chicken stock (to make this truly veg you’d have to use veg stock of course!), 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons chili sauce, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, pickled ginger and sesame seeds to serve.

You should have heard the groan from A when I brought this out of the fridge. You would have thought I was trying to poison him.

Cut the tofu into bite-size pieces.  Place the tofu pieces on a dry kitchen towel, and fold the ends over to cover them. Set a heavy pot on top of the tofu, to press the water out into the towel. Let it sit like this for 20-30 minutes.

While the tofu is sorting itself out, prep the other vegetables. I used these red Chinese yard-long beans, but you could definitely use any string beans you have. Cut the beans into bite-size lengths, and thinly slice the mushrooms and squash. Cut the eggplant into bite-size pieces.

Place the dry pieces of tofu into a small bowl, and toss with a shake of cornstarch to coat. This will make a perfect crust on the tofu when you fry it. Preheat about 2-3 inches of peanut oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat.

Fry the tofu in a single layer (it took 2 batches for me since I used a smaller saucepan for the frying). Cook 3-4 minutes on one side, then flip and allow to cook for another 4 minutes.

When the tofu is golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with another batch if necessary.

In a large skillet or wok, heat a little peanut oil over medium-high heat. It might seem counter-intuitive, but if you work in batches the veggies will cook much faster, since they’ll be in a single layer. If you dump them all in the pan at once, everything not touching the pan will just steam, so the veggies could get mushy. I started first with the eggplant, cooked for a couple minutes still just starting to brown, then transferred them to a plate.

Next, I cooked the beans and squash, then removed them.

Finally, I cooked the mushrooms. Each step took only 3-4 minutes, so all this is going on right next to the tofu while it’s deep-frying.

While the last batch of vegetables is cooking, get the ingredients for the sauce together. Thinly slice the onion.

In the same large skillet, add a little more peanut oil and begin to stir-fry the onion.

Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce (stock, soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch) together.

When the onions are soft and starting to brown, add the rest of the cooked vegetables back into the skillet, along with the fried tofu pieces.

Pour the sauce over and stir to coat everything. Return to a simmer and cook for 1 minute then remove from heat (this will thicken the sauce).

If you can find pickled ginger, a few slices served over the top over this dish is a really nice touch. Sprinkle a little bit of sesame seeds over the top as well.