Tofu, soy, Sriacha with rice noodles and spring onions. A very quick and satisfying midweek meal that can be adapted to what you have lying in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 250 g firm tofu
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari for gluten free
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 tbsp fresh minced ginger peeled and grated
- 3 spring onions finely sliced
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tsp Sriacha optional
- 100 g spinach washed
- Fresh Garlic and Ginger. These two are foundational for any great-tasting stir fry.
- Spring Onion. Sauté half of them with the vegetables to build flavor, then sprinkle the other half on at the end to give the stir fry some zip and pretty green presentation.
- Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil. Two pantry staples that you can use to create a super quick tofu stir fry. You can add them right to the pan; you don’t even need to mix up a separate sauce! You can use tamari instead of soy if cooking gluten free. Sesame oil adds a rich, deep, and lightly toasted flavor to any stir fry.
Preparation
The most time consuming element of this dish is prepping the tofu! And this just requires you to squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as possible.
This dish is versatile, so you can use any vegetables you like, such as peppers, spinach, mushrooms, courgettes, broccoli or carrots. The list is really endless. For this recipe, I stick to just spinach with the tofu and spring onions, so very little preparation needed. Just wash your spinach, chop the spring onions and gather the sauce ingredients!
Fresh ginger works best, and you’ll want to scrape off the skin with the back of a spoon, and then grate or finely chop the ginger.
Directions
In a wok or a wide based pan, heat up the sesame oil, and add the ginger and garlic, cooking for a few minutes until fragrant. Add some of the spring onions and a splash of soy sauce and cook for a minute. Then toss through the tofu pieces and the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Cook until the tofu is crispy, and stir through the spinach, add a little more soy sauce and sesame oil and cook until the spinach is wilted.
Serve with rice noodles, and top with sesame seeds, fresh spring onions and a drizzle or Sriracha sauce for a spicy kick.
Preparation Tips
A few pro tips to help you cook the best tofu stir fry ever:
- Press out as much of the tofu liquid as you can. The less liquid, the crispier the tofu will be. To do this, place a stack of paper towels on a plate. Wrap the tofu block in more paper towels, then place a second plate on top. Add several heavy items on top to weight the tofu down (canned food is perfect). Let sit 5 to 10 minutes while you prep the rest of the recipe.
- Add the soy sauce in increments as you cook to build flavor. Food should be seasoned throughout the entire cooking process. Each addition changes and deepens the flavor in a unique way that will give you better results than if you just add it all at once at the end.
- Save the sesame oil to drizzle on at the end to preserve its flavor. It’s so robust, toasty, and nutty that a few teaspoons give the illusion that this tofu stir fry recipe is much more complicated to make than it is.
15 Minute Spicy Tofu Stir Fry
A very quick stir fry that will be your mid-week go to on days when time is tight!
- 250 g firm tofu
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free)
- 3 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1 tbsp fresh minced ginger (peeled and grated)
- 3 spring onions (finely sliced)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tsp Sriacha (optional)
- 100 g spinach (washed)
Drain the tofu. Wrap each block in a double layer of paper towels and pat dry, pressing down on the tofu lightly to squeeze out excess moisture. Cut the tofu into bite size cubes.
In a wok or wide based pan, heat 1tbsp sesame oil on medium.
Add the tofu to the pan along with 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Sauté, stirring every minute or so until the tofu is nicely colored on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the half of the spring onions and 1tbsp of soy sauce and cook for 1 minute.
Add several large handfuls of spinach, stirring as you go so that it wilts and you can fit more in the pan. Once the first addition has wilted, continue to add and wilt the spinach by handfuls, until all of the spinach is added. It will seem like a ridiculous amount at first but will cook down considerably. Stir in the sesame seeds.
Stir in 1tbsp sesame oil. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the remaining spring onions over the top.
Serve with noodles, and drizzle with Sriacha for a spicy kick.
DID YOU MAKE THIS?
MENTION @THE_HAPPYDIET and tag #THEHAPPYDIET
The Happy Diet 