Quick smashed tofu stir-fry
Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
This is a pretty simple easy to throw together at the last minute kind of meal. It’s also super adaptable and you can pretty much use any vegetable you like. Though I think the mushrooms add an important flavor so I suggest making sure you include them unless you are one of the people who cant stand mushrooms. Which there are a surprisingly lot of you out there! It’s a it like coriander, you wither like it or hate it; there seems to be little in between. If you are a mushroom hater, my heart goes out to you. I love mushrooms so much I really can’t imagine my life without them.
The inspiration for this dish originally comes from a breakfast tofu scramble I used to order at Penny Fathing café in Northcote. Back when I was young, single and child free and had hours to whittle away hanging out in cafes. Those days are long gone! And so now I make my own brunch’s yay! I had no idea what recipe they used at Penny Fathing so I just had a stab in the dark. I based the sauce on a recipe for Asian beef bowls from Recipe Tin Eats – not vegetarian but a great source of recipe inspiration.
Quick smashed tofu stir-fry
Prep time: Approximately 30 minutes
Makes: Serves 2
Dietary guide: This recipe is gluten free and vegan. For a FODMAP friendly adaptation, see the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
4 large mushrooms (I use Portobello)
1 small-medium red capsicum
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
400g of semi-firm tofu broken into large chunky pieces
½ teaspoon of freshly minced ginger
1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
1 cup of firmly packed green such as baby spinach, gai lan, kale
2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds
¼ cup of chopped spring onion
¼ of chopped fresh coriander (make sure it’s well rinsed)
2 tablespoon of vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce
2 tablespoon of Chinese cooking wine
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Method
1. Slice each of the mushrooms into 6-8 wedge shaped pieces. Remove the seeds from the capsicum and dice into large chunks. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce - the oyster sauce, hoisin, cooking wine, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large fry pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the mushroom and capsicum and cook for about five minutes stirring frequently. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
3. Wipe down the fry pan and heat the other tablespoon of oil in the fry pan. Scatter the tofu over the hot pan and leave for about five minutes or until you can see the edges of the tofu go dark golden. It’s important not to stir it before the tofu changes colour, otherwise the tofu will likely stick to the bottom of the fry pan. Flip the tofu over with a spatula and fry the other side for a few minutes. Just flip it over the best you can – it doesn’t have to be perfect.
4. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another few minutes stirring frequently - pay close attention to the ginger and garlic making sure it is getting mixed evenly through.
5. Add the spring onion, greens and the pre cooked mushrooms and capsicum. Stir frequently until the greens have wilted. Pour in the sauce – I reserve about ¼ of the sauce and only add it if I think it needs it at the end. Stir-fry for another few minutes until the sauce is well mixed though. Take the pan off the heat and toss through the sesame seeds and coriander. Serve with rice.
FODMAP friendly adaptation: Use oyster mushrooms, replace the garlic with a teaspoon of garlic oil and use the green part of the spring onion only.
