Sometimes I come across ingredients at the (super)market without actually knowing in advance what I’m going to make with it, like this smoked tofu for example. I’ve only recently started cooking with tofu because I always found it a bit bland and having a weird texture.
But when it’s crispy and has soaked up some lovely marinade, like this black bean and pepper sauce, tofu gets lifted to another level. I also had a wrinkled cucumber left in the fridge which I peeled and stir fried along with the rest. Tasty! Drizzled with some of my home made chili oil to spice things up, tasty! (which by the way tastes better and better over time).
Crispy Smoked Tofu & Stir Fried Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce and Soba Noodles
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Loading...Ingredients
- Crispy Tofu
- 1 block of (smoked) tofu, pressed and patted dry
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cornflour
- Stir Fry Ingredients
- 3 cm ginger, peeled and julienned
- 2-3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp salted & dried black beans, soaked and then roughly chopped (see notes)
- 3 spring onions, diagonally cut into 2-3 cm pieces
- Vegetables of choice. In this case: mushrooms, sugar snaps, red peppers and cucumber
- 1/2 red chili, deseeded and finely sliced (optional, I had this lying around)
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- Sauce
- 1 tbsp sherry or shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 2 tsp palm sugar or brown sugar
- 1.5 tsp crushed black pepper
- 2 tsp black or white vinegar
- To serve
- Soba noodles (or steamed rice)
- Chili oil (optional)
Instructions
Prep
Soak the black beans in a bowl of water for 2-3 hours. If you don't have the time 30 minutes is fine as well, you'll just have a stronger fermented flavour, which is still tasty!
For the tofu: for extra crispiness it's best to drain the tofu to get rid of as much water as possible. I like to wrap it in a tea towel, lay it on a plate and weigh it down with a heavy pot or pan. After about an hour I unwrap it, pat it dry and you're good to go. If you don't have this time, just pat it dry with a paper towel.
Mix all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
Wash and chop all your ingredients as mentioned above, so you're ready to move fast.
Get a pot of boiling water ready for the soba noodles, they will take 4 minutes to boil. See further down when is the best time to add them.
The cooking
Chop the tofu into 1 cm cubes. In a bowl toss and dust them with the corn flour, white pepper and salt.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok, when hot at the tofu. Keep tossing and stirring, it will take about 6 minutes in total.
Remove the tofu from the wok and drain on a paper towel.
Add some more oil to the wok and add the ginger and chili, stir fry for 30 seconds.
Then add the rest of the vegetables, stir frying on high heat for 1 minute.
Add the chopped black beans and stir fry, ± 2 minutes.
Add the tofu back to the wok, stir through, 1 minute.
Now add the soba noodles to the boiling water and set the time for 4 minutes.
To the wok add garlic, chili flakes and the sauce.
Stir fry it all for 3-4 minutes.
When the noodles are done, drain and rinse them under cold water.
Divide over the plates and add the tofu veggie mix.
Serve with some chili oil drizzled over the top.
Notes
You can also buy already hydrated black beans, so if you have those you can just these as is to the vegetables as mentioned above.
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