Rainbow Carrot Stir-Fry

Name: Rainbow Carrot Stir-Fry
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 14-ounce box firm tofu, cut into dominoes; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry; 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock, or water; 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste); 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sugar (to taste); 1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot; 2 tablespoons peanut or other neutral oil; 2 to 3 teaspoons minced garlic (to taste); 2 to 3 teaspoons minced ginger (to taste); 1 pound carrots, preferably a mix of colors, cut into matchsticks; 1 bunch spring onions or 2 bunches scallions, white or purple, and light green parts separated from dark green parts, chopped; 1 tablespoon black or toasted white sesame seeds; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; Cooked grains or noodles, for serving

By Martha Rose Shulman

Updated Jan. 11, 2023

Rainbow Carrot Stir-Fry — Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Total Time: 10 minutes
Rating: 4(186)
Comments: Read comments

In January, a friend gave me beautiful lacquered chopsticks from Shanghai. That was a spur for me to pull out my wok for a stir-fry of spring onions and young carrots of all colors: purple and dark red-orange, yellow and the familiar orange.

I’ve made many rainbow pepper stir-fries, but this time I used my multicolored carrots, and cut them into matchsticks so they would cook quickly along with the spring onions. I wanted this to be a main dish, so I added tofu, as well as the aromatics that I always use in my stir-fries: garlic, ginger, dry sherry, soy sauce and a bit of sugar. The list of ingredients in stir-fry recipes can look long, even daunting. But most of the ingredients don’t require knife skills, just measuring spoons, so the preparation is simple. And the actual cooking goes very quickly, so quickly that it’s important to have everything prepped and within reach of your wok. Read through the recipe a couple of times before you begin cooking, because once you start, you won’t have time to refer to it.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

114-ounce box firm tofu, cut into dominoes
2tablespoons soy sauce
1tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
¼cup vegetable or chicken stock, or water
¼ to ½teaspoon salt (to taste)
¼ to ½teaspoon sugar (to taste)
1teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot
2tablespoons peanut or other neutral oil
2 to 3teaspoons minced garlic (to taste)
2 to 3teaspoons minced ginger (to taste)
1pound carrots, preferably a mix of colors, cut into matchsticks
1bunch spring onions or 2 bunches scallions, white or purple, and light green parts separated from dark green parts, chopped
1tablespoon black or toasted white sesame seeds
¼cup chopped cilantro
Cooked grains or noodles, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Drain and dry tofu slices on paper towels. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce, rice wine and stock. Combine salt and sugar in another small bowl. In another bowl, dissolve cornstarch or arrowroot in 2 tablespoons stock or water; stir well. Have ingredients within reach of pan.
Step 2
Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch steel skillet over high heat until a drop of water evaporates within a second or two when added to the pan. Swirl in 1 tablespoon oil by adding it to the sides of the pan or wok and swirling, then add tofu and stir-fry until lightly colored, 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining soy sauce; stir-fry until no liquid is visible in pan. Remove tofu to a plate.
Step 3
Swirl in remaining oil; add garlic and ginger, and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds. Add carrots and white and light green parts of onions or scallions; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add salt, pepper and sugar; toss together and add soy sauce mixture. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender.
Step 4
Return tofu to wok along with sesame seeds and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Stir cornstarch or arrowroot slurry and add it to pan along with cilantro and onion greens. Stir until everything is lightly glazed and remove from heat. Serve with hot grains or noodles.

Tip

You can prepare your ingredients hours in advance. Keep in refrigerator until 15 to 30 minutes before you begin cooking.

Ratings

4 out of 5

186 user ratings

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Comments

Steve7 years ago

I'd love to see a video of someone preparing this recipe in the 10 minutes represented. I doubt it is possible without everything prepped. I expect it would take 5 minutes to gather the ingredients.
For those of us without sou chefs, please be more realistic with your prep times. Otherwise your time estimates are a waste of everyone's time.
Thanks.

Lila7 years ago

It says "neutral," not "natural."

Greg7 years ago

This is a bit of a fussy little sauce. Just a thought: when I make carrot stir-fries, I typically use a bit of the sweet-salty-gingery liquid from gari (pickled ginger) along with sesame and soy. I imagine it would stand in well here for the salt, sugar, ginger, and some of the water, and it's a nice way to use up something which some folk might discard.

Tess9 months ago

Delicious recipe. Added 2 tablespoons of garlic-chili sauce instead of the minced garlic, because I love spicy dishes. Definitely making this again!

Ruth1 year ago

I found when the recipe said “add remaining” to be very frustrating. But I added cabbage and it’s taste pretty good.

persimmon2 years ago

Use the coin blade on the food processor. chicken breast tenders or sliced breasts any veggies

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