Description
Szechuan Tofu and Veggies! A flavorful vegan stir-fry with crispy tofu, szechuan sauce and loaded up with healthy vegetables! Quick, easy and flavorful!!!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1/4 cup Szechuan Sauce ( store-bought or make your own- see notes below) and more to taste! (please multiply if doubling or tripling the recipe) See notes.
- 8–12 ounces tofu, patted dry and cubed (or sub shrimp or chicken cubes)
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil or high heat oil
- generous pinch salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
- 4 ounces sliced mushrooms (optional)
- 2 cups shredded cabbage (or shredded brussels, or shredded broccoli)
- 1 cup shredded carrots or matchstick
- 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup asparagus, snap peas, or green beans
- optional: 6-8 small dried red Chinese or Arbol chilies
- garnish: scallions, sesame seeds, chili flakes
Serve this on its own, over rice or over soba noodles or zucchini noodles.
Instructions
- Make the Szechuan sauce, set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet. Season oil generously with salt and pepper. With tofu, I generally use ½ teaspoon kosher salt per ½ pound of tofu. Swirl the seasoned oil around until spread out uniformly. Add tofu and sear on at least two sides, until crispy and golden. Be patient here. Set aside.
- To the same pan, add a little more oil if needed, onion, and mushrooms and sauté over medium-high heat – stirring constantly, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining veggies, add the dried red chilies if you like -and lower heat to medium, and sauté, tossing & stirring for 3-5 minutes until just tender or al dente. Tender, but vibrant and still slightly crisp!
- Add the Szechuan Sauce, starting with ¼ cup and adding more to taste. If you are cooking more than one batch, you’ll need to multiply the sauce accordingly. Cook the sauce 2 minutes, letting it thicken a bit. Toss in the crispy tofu ( or shrimp or chicken) right at the end, just to warm it up.
- Divide among bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions. Add chili flakes for more heat.
- Serve this just as it is, or over rice, or noodles… and remember, do not eat the dried chilis!
Notes
Prepare the shrimp and chicken the same way as the tofu ( using less salt for the shrimp), pan searing first, then set aside.
- ½ -1 teaspoon Szechuan Peppercorns (or sub black peppercorns)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ( of Gluten-Free Liquid Aminos) see notes.
- 3 tablespoons honey (or sub maple syrup, coconut sugar, brown sugar or sugar alternative)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (or black vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing) or mirin (both optional)
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced (use a garlic press)
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely minced ( or use ginger paste)
- 1 tablespoon garlic chili paste (or sambal oelek) more for more spicy or sub 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- ½ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
- optional- 2-3 teaspoons cornstarch, to thicken.
Szechuan sauce Instructions
- Toast szechuan peppercorns in a hot dry skillet over medium heat, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Crush.
- Place all ingredients in a medium bowl or small jar and whisk until well combined.
- Whisk in optional cornstarch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: - With tofu - Add 2 servings of Szechuan Sauce ( ¼ cup)
- Calories: 307
- Sugar: 11.9 g
- Sodium: 368.4 mg
- Fat: 20.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.9 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 14.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
