Thursday, August 25, 2011

Another pleasant surprise

While staggering around the kitchen, blowing my nose and losing track of my recipe, I managed to produce a good stir-fry. Here's how I did it, since I'm sure I won't remember in another few days.

1 pound firm tofu
about 1/4 cup vegetarian stir-fry sauce
1 red pepper, cleaned and cut into bite-sized strips
1 or 2 heads baby bok choy, cleaned and separated and cut into bite-sizes chunks
1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
a scary amount of olive oil... maybe 1/4 cup?

If you're cooking brown rice, start that first because it will probably take longer than the entire stir-fry.

Press and blot tofu for 10-15 minutes. Slice into bite-sized strips (thin and flat works well for this cooking method) and marinate in the stir-fry sauce while cooking the vegetables.

Heat a small amount of oil in a large wok. When hot, saute peppers until nearly soft, then add some of the garlic for the final minute of cooking. Remove to a large serving bowl; do not clean wok.

Heat an additional small amount of oil in the wok. Add the bok choy stems and saute until nearly soft, then add the leaves and garlic and stir constantly while they cook. Remove to same large serving bowl; do not clean wok.

Dump in more oil. Add half of the marinated tofu and spread into a single layer. DO NOT STIR! (I know this seems counter-intuitive but it's the key to browning the tofu.) After several minutes, carefully flip each piece and brown the other side. Using a slotted spoon, remove tofu to same large serving bowl. Do not clean wok.

Repeat cooking procedure with second batch of marinated tofu.

When tofu is nearly done, add dump everything else back in the wok for 30 seconds (until it gets hot again) and stir GENTLY to combine. Serve immediately. It's good over noodles or brown rice.

(You can now clean the wok.)

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