Bok choy stir fry tofu

An excellent fast and simple stir fried bok choy with tofu puffs that solely makes use of 5 substances and takes quarter-hour to prep and prepare dinner. The crisp bok choy is flippantly caramelized and mixed with tender tofu in a savory and barely candy sauce. It’s surprisingly satisfying to eat as a aspect dish, and typically I serve it as a light-weight foremost dish for lunch over steamed rice. {Vegan, Gluten-Free Adaptable}

This stir fried bok choy with tofu puffs is one in every of my favourite veggie dishes. I ate it rising up in China and have repeatedly cooked it as a part of the dinner rotation now, dwelling within the US. At any time when my mother would serve this dish throughout dinner, I’d get very excited. The dish is tremendous easy, but surprisingly satisfying. The porous tofu puffs absorb all the nice taste and have a meaty texture. They’re accompanied by bok choy that’s stir fried till simply tender and caramelized but nonetheless a bit crunchy.

It’s a good way to get a superb quantity of inexperienced veggies in your weekday dinner.

Components

Tofu puffs (deep fried tofu)

If you happen to’ve by no means tried tofu puffs (逗泡, or deep fried tofu) earlier than, I extremely suggest you give them a attempt. In Chinese language Buddist cooking, fried tofu is normally used as a meat different to make a dish vegetarian. It has a spongy and ethereal texture, with a golden and barely oily floor. It really works like magic with veggies, each in stir fried dishes and in stews. Functioning equally to meat, the fried tofu provides richness and meaty texture to a dish. Plus, due to its porous texture, it can soak up tons of taste from the sauce or broth it’s cooked in.

You possibly can normally discover tofu puffs at Asian markets. They’re both within the refrigerated part close to the opposite tofu merchandise or within the freezer. You possibly can retailer them within the fridge for per week or two, however they’ll keep good for months within the freezer.

NOTE: Tofu puffs are known as deep fried tofu typically, however they’re completely different from the fried tofu you would possibly make at residence. As a result of tofu puffs are much less about crispiness and extra about ethereal texture. I’ve tried a number of methods to take common tofu and fry it at residence, however not one of the experiments achieved the feel of store-bought tofu puffs.

Tips on how to put together bok choy

You possibly can both use bok choy or barely bigger heads of child bok choy to prepare dinner this dish. To verify they prepare dinner evenly in a stir fry, right here is my favourite option to lower it:

1. Reduce off and discard the powerful finish on the underside.
2. Tear off the outer giant leaves till the tender core portion is uncovered. Halve the core.
3. For the bigger leaves, slice the white half into bite-sized items. For child bok choy, you possibly can preserve the items sq.. Nevertheless, when you’ve got big heads of bok choy (these normally present in a daily grocery retailer as a substitute of an Asian market), you possibly can slice them thinly as a result of the white half is way thicker than that of child bok choy.
4. For the inexperienced leafy half, go away it as-is whether it is underneath 5” (12 cm) lengthy. For large leaves, additional halve or lower them into thirds. The leaves will shrink quite a bit throughout cooking so you need to preserve the items bigger.

For an ideal texture, you possibly can even separate the white and inexperienced components and prepare dinner the white half a bit longer. However I’m normally lazy and add the whole lot directly. When the white half is cooked but nonetheless crisp, the inexperienced components are withered and fairly tender. It’s a texture distinction that I take pleasure in quite a bit.

Mise en place

Your desk ought to have the bok choy, tofu puffs, soy sauce, sugar and inexperienced onions earlier than you begin cooking.

Tips on how to prepare dinner stir fried bok choy with tofu puffs

Wok vs. skillet

Up to now I’ve talked concerning the causes to not use a wok, and the advantages of a wok vs. skillet. I’ve to confess that I take advantage of a big heavy skillet for many of my stir fry recipes. Nevertheless, I do like to make use of a small flat bottomed wok to prepare dinner easy dishes like this stir fried bok choy with tofu puffs.

The reason being:

• A small wok can maintain numerous greens but it’s simple to deal with
• Since this recipe makes use of quite simple seasonings, wok hei will make the dish stand out extra

If you happen to’re utilizing a wok, take a look at this outdated video that I made once I was again in China.

Alternatively, you possibly can completely use a skillet to make this dish. I want a carbon metal or forged iron skillet over a nonstick one, as a result of the bok choy shall be charred higher.

However both case, you have to be utilizing excessive or near excessive warmth the entire time and you need to hear a steady, loud scorching sound. But when the skillet begins to smoke too closely, flip to medium warmth. The cooking shall be finished in lower than 4 minutes.

Cooking course of

Cooking stir fried bok choy with tofu puffs couldn’t be simpler:

1. Stir fry the inexperienced onion in oil to launch the perfume
2. Add the bok choy and stir a number of instances to coat it with oil
3. Pour within the soy sauce and sugar, then give it a fast stir
4. Add the tofu puffs and canopy the pan to steam it briefly
5. Uncover the pan and stir to combine the whole lot collectively

That’s it! The bok choy shall be blistered, with a light-weight charred edge attributable to the soy sauce and sugar combo. The bok choy needs to be tender but with the white half nonetheless a bit crisp. The tofu puffs absorb all of the goodness from the fragrant oil and the sauce. Prime it on white rice and luxuriate in!

Dishes that go together with stir fried bok choy with tofu puffs

• Immediate Pot Complete Rooster
• Mother’s Finest Braised Pork Ribs (红烧排骨)
• Tomato Egg Drop Soup
• Rooster Fried Rice (鸡肉炒饭)
• Straightforward Salt Baked Rooster (简易盐焗鸡)