Tofu and Green Beans With Chile Crisp

By Sam Sifton

Updated Feb. 11, 2021

Tofu and Green Beans With Chile Crisp
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Chris Lanier. Prop Stylist: Carla Gonzalez-Hart.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(5,787)
Comments
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I love to cook with chile crisp, a fiery hot-pepper condiment born in the Sichuan Province of China that generally relies on fried shallots and garlic for texture, and on any number of umami-rich special ingredients for distinction and oomph. It’s magical: a boon to noodle soups and kitchen-sink stir-fries, to eggs and cucumbers, to plain steamed fish. Here, I use it as the base of a marinade and topping for baked tofu and green beans, with black vinegar, a little sesame oil, a wisp of honey, minced garlic and ginger, along with scallions and cilantro. But you could use the mixture on a mitten and have a very nice meal.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 3tablespoons chile-crisp condiment, plus more for serving
  • 3tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1½tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
  • 1½teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1teaspoon honey
  • 2garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 2tablespoons chopped scallions
  • 2tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 1(14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and sliced crosswise into 8 (½-inch-thick) slabs
  • ¾pound green beans
  • 1tablespoon neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed
  • White rice, for serving
  • 1tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

257 calories; 10 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 13 grams protein; 678 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

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a baking dish or casserole, whisk together the chile crisp, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, scallions and cilantro.

  2. Step 2

    Add the tofu slices to the dish, and coat them with the sauce, then allow to marinate for as long as it takes to heat the oven and trim the green beans.

  3. Step 3

    Add the green beans to a large sheet pan, then drizzle the neutral oil on top and toss to coat. Slide the green beans to the sides of the pan, and arrange the slices of tofu in an even layer in the center of the pan. Pour remaining marinade over the tofu, and place in oven.

  4. Step 4

    Roast until the green beans start to blister, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately with rice and extra chile crisp on the side.

Ratings

5 out of 5
5,787 user ratings
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Comments

SLCatherine

“Best tofu I’ve ever had!” declared hubby, and I agree: it’s perfection! Instead of fussing with towels and plates and weights to drain the tofu, I took another reader’s tip (from a Japanese cooking show) and microwaved the sliced tofu in a bowl for three minutes on high. Amazing how much water drained out, leaving the tofu with perfect texture to soak up the delicious marinade.

Randy

I've been using jars and jars of Trader Joe's "Chili Onion Crunch" that I now realize is a knockoff of the chile-crisp described here. There's nothing better on eggs, tofu, shrimp, rice....

Leslie

Bon Appetit has a great recipe for chile crisp, you can make it at home yourself without any special equipment and it's not behind a paywall. It takes around 30 minutes to make and lasts for months.

LilMac

This is on heavy rotation in our house! Satisfies my picky kids and my "it's not dinner unless it involves meat" dad. Usually I make it exactly as written, but I love how the marinade still works even with a hit of must-use-up sauces and seasonings. Packs a punch, but not punishing. I'll miss it this summer when I become weirdly feral if anyone dares turn on the oven.

Ray

I made this as directed, basically, except I used up a bunch of my veg - snap peas, zucchini chunks, mushrooms. Excellent. Question (which I'll test out next time): any reason not to put any of the sauce on the beans while they're cooking? Do they do better with just oil and sauced with chile crisp on the plate?

Kate

A regular for us. I use roasted red chili paste instead of chili crisp. A bit sweeter

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