Tofu Chilli and Egg Fried Rice

How to make tofu taste more edible is a question I am often asked in my cooking workshops. Tofu is like a blank canvas. Good tofu, that is. Good tofu is clean tasting, with no flavour of its own. Marinate it in a good dressing and it will behave like a most obedient student, taking on whatever flavours you urge it to.

My regular readers will remember that I won a Nature’s Basket cook-off that took me to Australia last year, and what won me that contest was a dish called ‘Trio of Tofu’. I made tofu three ways – a Korean style tofu-cake, tofu satays with dipping sauce and sauteed marinated tofu in rice paper rolls with another dipping sauce. One of the judges, Michael, who was from the Australian Trade Commission, told me, his wife will be happy he ate something healthy for a change 🙂

This is a somewhat healthier take on this very popular Indo Chinese dish called Paneer Chilli or Chilli Paneer, where Indian style paneer pakodas (with a cornflour batter of course) are tossed along with strips of bell peppers and chillis in the typical ginger-garlic-green chilli-soy sauce combination. Since I don’t deep fry unless my life depends on it, or if it is for a really good Vadai, this is a slightly modified recipe.

Recipe for Tofu-Chilli Stir Fry

Prep Time 15 minutes | Cooking time 15 minutes | Serves 3-4

Serve as appetiser or a side with steamed rice or fried rice

Recipe for Tofu Chilli Stir Fry | Indo-Chinese Recipes

Tofu Chilli and Egg Fried Rice How to make tofu taste more edible is a question I am often asked in my cooking workshops. Tofu is like a blank canvas. Good tofu, that is. Good tofu is clean tasting, with no flavour of its own. Marinate it in a good dressing and it will behave like a most obedient

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

200 grams tofu cut into finger lengths -
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 - 3 green chillies chillies or fresh red
1 tsp ginger finely minced
1 tsp garlic finely minced
1 green bell pepper large
1 onion large
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsps corn flour
1/4 cup water
1 tsp rice vinegar
to taste black pepper

Marinade for the tofu

2 tbsps soy sauce light
1 tbsps soy or dark (plus 1 tbsp water )
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp ginger finely grated
1 tbsp honey
pinch black pepper ground
1 tsp rice vinegar white vinegar or regular
Coriander spring onion or greens for garnish
sesame seeds toasted (Optional)

Method

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk well, keep aside.
Place the tofu pieces in a large bowl. Pour the marinade over it and gently toss and coat well.
Keep aside for 15 minutes at least and up to one hour in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile chop the bell pepper into long strips and the onion into thin slices or cut into quarters and peel each quarter into petals (like you see in the photo of the dish).
Mix the 2 tsp corn flour, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup water to make a slurry, in a small bowl. Keep aside.
Place a wok on HIGH heat with the oil. Once the oil is hot, quickly stir in the green chillies, ginger garlic. Don't brown the garlic. Add the sliced veggies and stir fry on high flame for 5 minutes or so, with constant stirring, so it doesn't burn.
Next drain the marinated tofu and add it to the wok, toss it gently on medium flame for 2-3 minutes.
Add the leftover marinade plus the slurry and toss until it gets a well glazed look. Add the 1 tsp rice vinegar, give it a final stir and remove into a bowl.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander or spring onion batons and toasted sesame seeds.
If you want to serve with rice, use an extra tsp of cornflour and increase water to around half cup, simmer until a little thick, adjusting the seasoning accordingly.

Notes

You can try this with paneer too, if you are still not convinced about tofu :).

Previous Indo-Chinese recipes in this month's series.

How to make a vegetable stock in 30 minutes.

Lemon-Coriander Soup.

Next week: How to make a basic egg fried rice.

This recipe is part of the endeavor to create a collection of recipes of Indian Chinese Recipes in collaboration with a few bloggers who share the same passion of cooking. All the recipes from #thekitchendivas are pinned on this Pinterest board..

Other Indo-Chinese recipes this week from #thekitchendivas.

Crab Rangoon from WhiskAffair.

Gobi Manchurian from FunFoodFrolic.

Vegetarian Rice Paper Spring Rollsfrom Archana's Kitchen.

Comments

Anonymous says: February 22, 2015 at 3:35 am

Hi! I have not used Tofu before, but would like to. I ended up buying something which recommends that I boil the Tofu in salted water for 3-5 minutes. Is this necessary or normal, or did I not buy the correct stuff? If its ok to use this stuff, at what stage do I Marinade the Tofu?

Anonymous says: February 24, 2015 at 4:06 pm

Hi,all done!!

Anonymous says: February 25, 2015 at 5:00 am

hello nandita!all done!

Anonymous says: February 27, 2015 at 9:19 am

Liked, shared, commented and subscribed! :)Awesome review, btw 🙂

Anonymous says: March 7, 2015 at 12:42 am

I did all the steps.. I also followed on GFC and youtube and shared this on Google plus.

Poornima V says: November 4, 2015 at 1:04 am

Hello again Nandita! I just tried this recipe and I can’t wait to eat dinner. The recipe worked out beautifully. I am writing this before I sit down to study for the next hour but I can’t wait to dig in. Fantastic recipe!

nandita says: November 4, 2015 at 3:14 am

@poornima – thank you 🙂

Recipe for Tofu Chilli Stir Fry | Indo-Chinese Recipes