Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu With Corn, Green Beans and Cilantro

Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu With Corn, Green Beans and Cilantro
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 15 minutes
Rating
5(428)
Comments
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Few dishes are as simple as the stir-fry, which just requires some chopping, a few seasonings and a blistering hot pan. This sweet and spicy stir-fry is a light meatless meal, loaded with fresh green beans, corn and tofu. Ginger, garlic and jalapeño provide a little heat.

Featured in: Letting Vegetables Inspire a Stir-Fry

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • One 14-ounce package firm tofu, sliced about ¼ inch thick
  • 1tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1tablespoon Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
  • 2teaspoons dark Asian sesame oil
  • ¼ to ½teaspoon salt (to taste)
  • ¼ to ½teaspoon ground pepper, preferably white pepper
  • ¼teaspoon sugar
  • 2tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil
  • 1tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1jalapeño, seeded and minced
  • ½pound baby green beans, trimmed and broken in half if very long
  • Kernels from 2 ears of corn
  • 2tablespoons minced scallions
  • 1cup roughly chopped cilantro
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

257 calories; 18 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 435 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut the tofu into ¼-inch matchsticks, and place them on paper towels. Place another paper towel on top, and prepare the remaining ingredients.

  2. Step 2

    In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, and the sesame oil. Combine the salt, pepper and sugar in another small bowl. Have all the ingredients within arm’s length of your pan.

  3. Step 3

    Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil, add the green beans and blanch one minute. Transfer the beans to a bowl of cold water, drain and dry on a kitchen towel.

  4. Step 4

    Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch steel skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates from the surface within a second or two. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the sides of the pan and tilt the pan to distribute. Add the tofu. Stir-fry one to two minutes until it begins to color. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeño, and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds.

  5. Step 5

    Add the remaining oil and then the green beans, corn and scallions. Stir-fry for one minute. Add the salt, pepper and sugar, and toss together. Add the soy sauce mixture. Cover and cook 30 seconds. Uncover, add the cilantro and stir-fry for another 30 seconds to a minute until the green beans are crisp tender. Remove from the heat and serve.

Ratings

5 out of 5
428 user ratings
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Comments

This recipe converted me to tofu; it's absolutely delicious. I used just half a jalapeno pepper, almost a pound of green beans, and more garlic and ginger. Served with rice and grilled vegetables, it was a perfect summer dinner. But it took me much longer than the 15 minutes indicated!

This dish was a big hit with my family, even with my 8 year old son! He asked for seconds on the tofu. I increased the garlic and the sauce by about 50%. I used 3/4 of a huge jalepeno. I debated using basil instead of cilantro because I prefer the flavor, but the cilantro works so well with the corn. I will make this again and again. I think it would work with many vegetable combinations. With all the chopping and prep it took about 45 minutes total, just enough time for the brown rice to cook.

OMG. Delicious! I doubled the soy sauce/sesame oil/shiao xing. Since I'm not particularly good at eyeballing stalks of ginger or bulbs of garlic (or how many scallions) to figure out how much a tablespoon or two might be I had too much of all three, but threw it all in anyway. Didn't matter, still delicious. The 15 minutes is most likely cooking time once all ingredients have been prepped, which took me the better part of 45 minutes, sorry to say. I'll be making again.

We’re occasional tofu folks and this exceeded expectations. We like spice so I used 2 jalapeños and we wanted a bit more salt so added more soy sauce at the table. Tasted great over wild rice blend.

Very flavorful. The jalapeño is too spicy for me but without it it is one of my favorite recipes.

Doubled the sauce as others recommended. Enjoyed this, but didn't think it was "spicy". We prefer more crunch to our green beans so didn't blanch. Topped our bowls with fried shallots and chili crisp for extra texture and spice.

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