Shallow Fried Tofu stir fry

  My version

This is a recipe inspired from my travels around east Asia. My husband loves tofu and that is what has motivated me to experiment more with Tofu.        

For those who are new to Tofu, let me introduce. Tofu it is said to have originated in ancient China. Now, it is a part of Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Indonesian cuisines as well. Tofu is prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing down the curds into blocks of various textures. There are many varieties of Tofu available in the market. In this recipe I have used fresh organic Firm Tofu as they keep their shape even after frying them.

Ok.. I've wanted to say this somewhere, someday.. The Chinese dishes served in the so called Chinese restaurants in India and most parts of middle east, do not actually serve authentic Chinese dishes. My family and I personally love authentic Chinese food because it does not make your stomach feel bloated or heavy and generally in 2 to 3 hours you tend to feel hungry again. Genuine Chinese cuisine is light for the stomach, fresh, veggies aren't overcooked, does not contain tomato ketchup for heaven sake, is not empowered with soy sauce, is very low on salt and I wonder where the ajinomoto thing came from!

Ingredients :
Organic Fresh Firm Tofu	-		250 gms
Whole wheat flour	-		5 tablespoons
Extra virgin Olive oil	-		1/3 cup
Crushed Garlic	-		2 cloves
Fresh ginger, cut into fine shreds	-		1 inch piece
Red / green chilli	-		1 no.
Celery	-		1 small stem
Enokitake mushroom	-		1 bunch
Black fungus mushroom	-		1/2 cup
Portobello mushroom	-		1/2 cup
Yellow/green/orange bell peppers	-		1/2 cup
Broccoli	-		1 cup
Carrots	-		1/2 cup
Oyster sauce	-		1 teaspoon
Soya sauce	-		1 tablespoon
Freshly ground black pepper	-		As preferred
Sesame seeds (optional)	-		1/2 teaspoon
Salt	-		To taste.

A non-stick wok is an asset, not only for east Asian cooking, but, also Indian cooking. Invest on one and you will love cooking in it.

Preparation Method :

Drain the tofu and slice them into 3/4 inch to 1 inch steaks. Mix the flour with a pinch of salt and dip the tofu steaks into the flour mixture to coat well. In a wok, heat 5-6 tablespoons of oil. Shallow fry the coated tofu steaks on both sides until golden brown. Remove onto kitchen paper towel. Clean the wok and heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat and add the garlic, ginger and chillies. Stir fry the mushrooms for a minute. Add the oyster sauce. Stir fry celery, bell peppers and carrots. Add the soya sauce, pepper and salt to taste. drizzle in some water and sprinkle in the sesame seeds. Add the broccoli and stir fry for a minute or until the broccoli turns dark green.  Add the tofu and gently mix with a spatula, shaking the wok until the tofu is coated with the liquid in stir fry.

Serve steaming hot with steamed rice or a clean egg fried rice.

Serves two

Try it, and let me know how it worked for you! :)