Tofu stir fry is a quick, easy and delicious vegan stir fry recipe with firm tofu, veggies and flavorful seasonings.
Use your favorite veggies, add sauces you like and make many flavors with this base recipe. Tastes incredible with rice or fill in your bao buns as I did, totally yum! One of our favorite dinner recipes these days!
This tofu stir fry is the best, yummy and perfect!. Get this, it comes from a loyal paneer fan, that is me 🙂 On any given day, I would simply use paneer in place of it even if a recipe calls for tofu.
I first tried stir fry tofu in a buffet in an Asian restaurant and it I was not at all impressed. The tofu was so dry, bland and the awful sauce it was covered with did not help either.
So there I left tofu behind and never bothered to try it again. But it all changed when I had to eat it as it was the only vegetarian option available again in a restaurant, but this time it was a small bistro like and the tofu I had there was wonderful!
The stir fry tofu with veggies I had there was so good. Soft tofu cubes (not fried) tossed in a generous dose of veggies with a very flavorful sauce and adorned with loads of sesame seeds, too good!
I got to know through a quick chat with the chef that there are few tricks to make tofu taste great and I also got to know there are many types of it.
Now a days I do prepare quick tofu recipes once in a while. We like tofu not as a substitute to paneer but as tofu itself in Asian recipes.
Whether you love tofu or like me tasted a poor version of it and willing to give another try, this recipe is for you.
The sauce used here is one of the best and I already thought of so many ways in my mind to use this.
This Tofu Stir Fry Is
Super quick to make, within 30 minutes
Delicious to the core
tossed in very flavorful sauce
loaded with veggies
Vegan & gluten free (Use gluten free soy sauce/ tamari)
Tastes great with rice can be stuffed in bao, eaten in many ways.
Now before we begin with the recipe, did you know there are many types of tofu? Soft, silken, firm, extra firm etc.
What type of tofu is good for stir fry?
We need to use firm or even better extra firm tofu for this recipe. Firm tofu contains least moisture or liquid content and holds it shape well in stir fries.
Also firm tofu upon slight toasting or frying has a nice chewy texture and it does not turn the dish soggy.
I could get only firm tofu so I had to use that.
One more important step while cooking with firm tofu is to press it well for 20 minutes to remove excess moisture. For this yu can use a tofu press or a heavy object like mortar n pestle.
Pressing the tofu well to remove the excess moisture is a very important step to make perfect stir fry that does turn soggy.
This stir fry tofu is fairly dry recipe. I mean it is not drenched in sauce. The sauce is there to merely coat the veggies and tofu, imparts beautiful flavor but also let the veggies shine through.
The sauce used here is a combination of chili past, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and a good amount of ginger garlic. I have also used celery stalks to infuse more Asian favor 🙂
I have used homemade chili paste in this recipe, you can use sambal oelek too. I have given instructions for my homemade chili paste in the recipe card)
I just cooked the veggies in high flame as in sesame noodles or fried rice or schezwan noodles, added the ingredients for sauce and finally threw the slightly pan toasted tofu.
If you prefer you can bake or even fry the tofu before using in the recipe.
Here is how I made this tofu stir fry, really one of the easiest tofu recipes for dinner!
How To Prepare Tofu Stir Fry?
First off place your block of extra firm tofu on a clean thick kitchen towel and cover it with another thick kitchen towel. Place a heavy object on it and let sit for 20 minutes. You may have to change the towels in between if they shed too much water.
Once pressed well, dab any moisture in the tofu with a napkin and chop into thick triangles or cubes.
Heat a cast iron pan or skillet with few drops of oil. Place the tofu cubes and roast from both sides for 5-6 minutes.
Now to proceed with the recipe, heat a wok or pan with 2 tablespoons sesame oil.
Add minced ginger-garlic or ginger garlic paste, slit green chili, chopped celery and cubed onions. Saute for a minute.
Add the chopped veggies and saute in high flame for 3-4 minutes.
Next add sugar, salt, chili paste and mix well.
Also add your soy sauce, vinegar and freshly cracked peppercorns. Saute in high flame for 3-4 minutes.
Now add the prepared tofu and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Throw in toasted white sesame seeds and mix well.
Remove from flame and serve with rice or use as filling for bao.
More Asian Recipes
I hope you will try this tofu stir fry recipe and enjoy as much as we did.
Tofu Stir Fry
1 CUP = 250 ml
Ingredients
- 250 grams extra firm tofu, Pressed for 20 minutes, chopped into thick triangles
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil plus 1/2 teaspoon for toasting tofu
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger garlic or ginger garlic paste
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- 1 big carrot, cut into batons
- 12 french beans, chopped
- 1 medium bell pepper, cubed
- 2 tablespoons chili paste or sambal oelek
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black peppercorns
- Salt, to taste
- 3 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- First off place your block of extra firm tofu on a clean thick kitchen towel and cover it with another thick kitchen towel. Place a heavy object on it and let sit for 20 minutes. You may have to change the towels in between if they shed too much water.
- Once pressed well, dab any moisture in the tofu with a napkin and chop into thick triangles or cubes.
- Heat a cast iron pan or skillet with few drops of oil. Place the tofu cubes and roast from both sides for 5-6 minutes.
- Now to proceed with the recipe, heat a wok or pan with 2 tablespoons sesame oil.
- Add minced ginger-garlic or ginger garlic paste, slit green chili, chopped celery and cubed onions. Saute for a minute.
- Add the chopped veggies and saute in high flame for 3-4 minutes.
- Next add sugar, salt, chili paste and mix well.
- Also add your soy sauce, vinegar and freshly cracked peppercorns. Saute in high flame for 3-4 minutes.
- Now add the prepared tofu and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Throw in toasted white sesame seeds and mix well.
- Remove from flame and serve with rice or use as filling for bao.
Notes
- You can double the recipe
- Use tamari for making this recipe gluten free.
Preetha says
Looks delicious!!
Madhu says
Amazing recipe and it is vegan which is a bonus point..love it