Broccoli and Tofu Stir-Fry

There was a Thai restaurant in Chicago that made a wonderful Sweet and Sour Tofu. The wonderfulness mainly stemmed from the texture of the tofu. It had a nice crust and was very chewy. I’ve been playing around with different techniques to recreate the texture.  I don’t have it completely worked out yet, but this is fairly close. I ditched the sweet and sour sauce and went with something more like a typical Chinese take-out sauce. And I added some broccoli to healthy it up a bit.

Tofu Marinade

• 1 block extra-firm tofu
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• pinch salt
• dash ground cayenne pepper

Sauce

• 3 tablespoons gluten-free tamari or soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
• dash toasted sesame seed oil
• dash crushed red pepper flakes

Broccoli and Tofu Stir-Fry

• grapeseed oil
• tofu (from above)
• 1 pound broccoli, cut in ¾-inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 4 green onions, diced

1. Drain and rinse the tofu. Place between towels and set something flat on top. Set something heavy on top of that. Let sit for 30 minutes, then cut the tofu into ¾-inch cubes.
2. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the tofu, toss to coat. Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
3. Heat a wok over high heat and add a couple tablespoons of oil. Add one-third of the tofu. Fry, stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes, until browned on the outside. Remove from the wok and set aside in a bowl. Repeat with the remaining 2 batches of tofu.
4. Add the broccoli and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and let sit for 3 minutes, stirring once in the middle. Remove the lid, stir, and let cook another 1-2 minutes, until any water is cooked off. Push the broccoli over to one side of the wok. Add the garlic, ginger, and onion. Cook for 1 minute, stirring to prevent the garlic from burning. Stir the broccoli into the onions, garlic, and ginger. Add the tofu back to the wok and stir until combined.
5. Whisk the sauce again. Remove the wok from the heat and immediately add the sauce. Stir until the sauce thickens, about half a minute. Serve over rice.

Serves 4

There will be a lot of smoke while you’re frying the tofu. I’d suggest preemptively opening your windows. Testing this recipe motivated me to buy a splatter screen. It’s very useful for stir-fry or anything else you might be stovetop frying.

This recipe is being shared in Allergy Free Wednesday and Gluten Free Wednesday.