After a week of holidays, eating and drinking everything we want (and maybe even more), we were really looking forward to getting back on a healthier track. A vegetable stir fry is just that!
For this dish I used a mix of broccoli, shiitake and king oyster mushrooms in a lovely sauce full of Asian flavours (Soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, white pepper, garlic, ginger and chili’s. Yum!
We could have eaten it just like this but I love the addition of crispy fried tofu coated in the dark and rich sauce.
Saucy Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu
Ingredients
- Sauce
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine
- 1 tbsp mirin (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
- Dash of white pepper (or black)
- 1/2 cup water, more if needed
- Crispy tofu
- 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 200 g firm tofu, I used smoked
- 3-4 tbsp corn flour
- Pepper & Salt
- Stir fry ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger, julienned
- 1 long red chilli, finely chopped (deseeded if you want it less hot)
- 1 small onion, sliced into thin half rings
- 200 - 300 g broccoli, chopped into small florets
- 300 g mixed mushrooms, torn into bite size pieces
- To serve
- Steamed white rice or noodles
- 1-2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1-2 tsp toasted Sesame seeds
Instructions
The prep
Start by preparing the rice (if using) according to the packaging. You need about 8 minutes to boil and 8-10 minutes to steam. In the meantime you can make the rest of the dish.
Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce and and prepare the vegetables, set aside.
The crispy tofu
Slice the tofu in 0,5 cm thick strips and then slice diagonally so you get nice triangle shapes.
Add these to a large bowl together with the corn flour and a good amount of pepper and salt. Toss to coat.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan and when hot add a layer of tofu, making sure not to crowd the pan. I fried these in 2 batches.
Fry the tofu on one side until starting to brown, ± 2 minutes. Flip and fry on the other side, ± 1 -2 minutes, until crispy (they will crisp up a bit more while cooling).
Remove them from the oil using tongs and place on some kitchen towel to drain the oil.
Repeat with the rest of the tofu and set aside.
The stir fry
Remove some of the oil from the pan, leaving behind ± 1 tablespoon.
Add the garlic, ginger and 3/4 of the red chili and stir fry on medium heat for 30 seconds.
Add the onion and stir fry for a minute until starting to soften.
Add the broccoli and the mushrooms and fry on high heat while you keep stirring so it doesn't burn. ± 3-4 minutes.
Pour the sauce into the mix and stir well, let the vegetables bubble away on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the broccoli is just al dente.
Just before serving add the the crispy tofu, 3/4 of the spring onions and the sesame seeds.
Mix to coat and served straight away with the steamed rice and some extra chili and spring onion sprinkled on top.