Spicy tofu stir-fry

They say there is a first time for everything. In the life of me, there’ve been many momentous firsts: my first kiss, my first job out of college, my first apartment. But last night’s first was potentially one to end all others: my first attempt at cooking tofu.

Most, but not all, of you are aware of one fact: I am Asian. And very, very bad at it. My math skills hover somewhere between abysmal and nonexistent, I can only finish three sides of a Rubik’s cube and doing my own nails rarely if ever yields smudge-free results.

Thus, the task of preparing tofu was somewhat daunting. But now that the number of protein sources in my daily dietary vault has dwindled, I knew it was something I had to do. Abe Lincoln had to free the slaves, JFK had to quell the Cuban missile crisis, Paula Abdul had to leave American Idol and I had to learn to make tofu. It was my duty.  

eat me.

It began with much googling and clicking and culminated in finally settling on this preparation strategy. Click the link for in-depth instructions, but the abridged version is this: slice tofu, use towels to squeeze water out of pieces, put slices in DRY nonstick skillet to further evaporate/dehydrate tofu, toss into marinade, cook.

It was simple. It was fast. And it was really good. Since almost all the water had been squished out of the tofu, it was thirsty for moisture and thoroughly absorbed the marinade in only about 20 minutes. It stir-fried up quite nicely with one of my favorite simple veggie combos – broccoli, carrots, red cabbage and onions – but it would also be great sliced into smaller shreds in a Szechuan-style setup, with carrots, celery and onions, or with asparagus and snow peas, or bok choy and butternut squash, or whatever other lovely veggies are in season.

Were a few pieces mushier than ideal? Of course. Was the sauce a little saltier than I’d intended it to be? Sure. Did B and I eat all of it anyway? We most certainly dang did – with a hibachi-style salad and some fluffy brown rice, a bottle of Virginia sweet red wine and an adorably enthusiastic explanation of how one goes about playing Magic: the Gathering.

Some days I swear I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

up close & personal.

spicy tofu stir-fry

1 block of extra firm tofu, prepped like this
broccoli
carrots
red cabbage
onions
brown rice

marinade/sauce
garlic
sesame oil
soy sauce
sesame ginger salad dressing
honey
sriracha
Szechuan sauce
red pepper flakes
cornstarch
hot water

Drain, squeeze and dry-fry tofu. Whisk together marinade ingredients (I try to aim for equal parts of each ingredient except for the garlic and red pepper flakes. Just a spoonful and sprinkle of each, respectively, is good.) Add tofu to marinade, let sit for 20-30 minutes.

Prepare brown rice according to package instructions. Add generous drizzle of sesame oil to skillet. Add vegetables and stir-fry for a few minutes, then add tofu. Stir-fry for five to ten minutes, serve over rice with salad, DVR’ed Jeopardy episodes and American Psycho.