Meatless Monday Tofu Stir Fry

Continuing the Meatless Monday movement, here is a recipe my daughter Melyssa came up with for a sweet and sour stir fry that will put your local Chinese restaurant to shame!

Sweet and Sour Tofu and Vegetables

1 container of extra firm tofu

A large bowl full of cornstarch

2 red, orange, or yellow peppers

1 medium onion

2 carrots, sliced diagonally into bite-sized pieces

1/2 - 1 cup pineapple chunks (canned or fresh)

About 7-8 tbs. vegetable oil

Onions and peppers are great stirfry staples, but feel free to add chopped celery, broccoli florets, edamame, water chestnuts, snap peas, or bamboo. The above recipe only covers what we had in the fridge last night.

Sauce:

About 6 tbs. soy sauce

2 tsp. ketchup

2 tbs. + 1 tsp. maple syrup

2-3 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce (depending how much spice you like)

1 tbs. Mirin (Japanese rice wine)

3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced

1-2 tsp. ginger, finely minced

2 tbs. olive oil or canola oil

About 10 tbs. water

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 heaping tsp. cornstarch dissolved into about 4 tbs. water

It is important to remove most of the liquid from the tofu by pressing it before frying. To do this, drain the tofu and sandwich the entire block between 2 clean tea towels or a bunch of folded up paper towels. Put it on a cutting board with a few heavy books on top - dictionaries usually do the trick. Make sure the weight is evenly distributed and that the books are stable. Wait 15-30 minutes for most of the moisture to be pressed out.

Once pressed, cut the tofu block into small cubes. Toss the cubes in the bowl full of cornstarch - even after pressing, they will be damp enough to coat easily. I like to coat the cubes in small batches, then place them on an empty plate to avoid a big powdery mess. Set this aside while you start preparing the sauce.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the minced garlic and ginger. Keep the heat very low to start. Add the soy sauce, water, syrup, ketchup, mirin, sesame oil, and Sriracha. Stir well with the heat on medium-low. Taste the sauce and make adjustments if you'd like, adding more syrup, soy sauce, or water if necessary. If you have any juice left over from the pineapple chunks, this can be a great sweetener. Once the flavor is to your liking, add in the cornstarch-water mixture and stir well. This will thicken the sauce so it sticks to the tofu/veggies. Turn up the heat a bit to aid thickening, then reduce the heat to a very low simmer to keep it warm.

In a medium skillet, heat 2-3 tbs. of oil and add the vegetables in order of hardness, or how long they will take to cook. In this case, the carrots should go in first. After 1-2 minutes, when they have just begun to soften, add the peppers. After 1-2 minutes, add the onions. Add the pineapple last. Remember to stir often.

While the veggies cook, heat the remaining 5-6 tbs. oil in a larger skillet over medium heat. The oil should coat the entire bottom of the pan, so add more if you need it. Add the cornstarch-coated tofu cubes - careful not to splash the hot oil onto yourself. Make sure the cubes don't stick together. Don't forget to keep an eye on the vegetables to make sure they don't get too soft.

When the veggies are cooked through, add a few spoonfuls of the sweet and sour sauce and toss to coat. Turn the heat way down so the veggies stay warm but don't get mushy.

Let the bottoms of the cubes brown ever so slightly, then flip each of them over using kitchen tongs. You may want to turn them a few times to make sure they get crispy on all sides. Shake the skillet to make sure they are not sticking to the bottom or to each other. When the tofu cubes are lightly browned, transfer them from the oil onto a plate lined with paper towels. Let some of the oil drain, then add the tofu to the skillet with the vegetables. Pour the rest of the sauce on top and toss to coat using kitchen tongs.

This stirfry is best served over brown rice, or even rice noodles. I use frozen bags of brown rice from Trader Joe's - they cook in about 3 minutes!