SaintElias.com -> Recipes: for Feasting and Fasting

The SECRET to Tofu

The Secret to Tofu is......

There is No Secret!

Quite Simply, it's just has NO TASTE!!!

But it is Cheap, Very Nutritious and has a Super fast prep time!

The fact that it has No Taste means that all the taste must come from the sauce.

Wherefore if ye sauce shalt be good, in like manner so shalt ye Tofu also be.

Tofu Stirfry: Quick & Easy

--heat wok [or skillet, frying pan, sauce pan, etc.]

--add sufficient vegetable cooking oil (not olive oil)

--add

half teaspoon of finely chopped garlic

half teaspoon of finely chopped ginger root [fresh, not powder]

some scallions or onion (optional)

--stir fry for a few Seconds on high heat

--add a Vegetable:

e.g.

--green beans chopped into thirds

--bok choy, chopped into bite sizes [the leaves can be large as they shrink a lot]

--chinese cabbage [aka, Napa, etc.] chopped into bite sizes

--bean sprouts

--even regular cabbage [chopped up]

--when the vegetables are partly done, add 1 or 2 bricks of Tofu [you can break each brick into quarters (to create maximum surface upon which the sauce will adhere). You can do this in the wok itself whilst you are stir frying [to save time].

--stir fry until the vegetables are done. (They are done with the leaves are just wilted and way before the vegetable looses its crunchiness.)

--salt & (white) pepper if you are a keener (cf. supra)

--throw on the Sauce for a few seconds (cf. infra)

--Serve! (with e.g. plain steamed rice)

A Soy Sauce Sauce:

mix

1 tablespoon of flour (or cornstarch if you are a keener)

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of soy sauce or oyster flavour sauce

3 tablespoons of water

NB:
1. Stir-frys should not be watery or soggy. Do not add liquid sauce until the very end.

Hint: make sure: the Wok is Very Hot [just smoking]; there is sufficient oil for cooking (the idea is that the original peasant recipe comes from a culture where there is little firewood, hence the fire heats the oil and the oil does the actual cooking); there is sufficient "pan-surface" relative to material to be cooked (if necessary, cook the stuff in shifts and combine when all are cooked).

2. If you want Cheap Tofu & good quality & fresh, try Chinatown instead of yuppie-type supermarkets. Look for a large coffee tin of Tofu in water. Pour off the water into a bucket provided for that purpose and bring to cashier. At home, every several days, change the water & the Tofu will keep for a long time (I was going to say "becomes indestructible (but in a good way)" but somehow that didn't quite sound as appetizing as I at first thought.

If it is a "Mitigated" Fast day. You might consider using the Deep Fried Tofu. It's easier just to buy it. I tried doing it myself; but it turned out to take WAY more than the few minutes I had assumed it would....

Ukrainian version
Українська версія

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