HELP!!!! how do you cook tofu and what is stir frying?!
HELP!!!! how do you cook tofu and what is stir frying?
Answers:
Ha heres a tofu stir fry hope it helps =)
STIR - FRY VEGETABLES WITH TOFU
4 med. carrots
2 zucchini (6" long)
4 green onions
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 cans chicken broth (13 3/4 oz. size)
2 tsp. arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
Safflower oil
Garlic powder
Ground ginger
1 pkg. firm tofu (cut into 1/2" cubes)
2 c. cooked brown rice
1 pkg. chow mein noodles
Wash zucchini, celery and onions, then dry them thoroughly. Peel carrots and cut them into very thin strips (3 inch long x 1/8 inch). Cut celery 1/4 inch thick pieces. Cut zucchini into half lengthwise, then into 1/8 inch slices. Slice green onions 1/4 inch thick.
In a large wok or skillet heat 2 teaspoons oil until very hot but not smoking. Add carrots and celery; stir fry with wooden spatulas for 3 minutes. Add zucchini and onions. Cover pan, lower heat to medium-high, cook 1 minute. Uncover, stir a little, cover and cook 1 1/2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
In small saucepan pour in chicken broth. Sprinkle in arrowroot powder and about 1/8 teaspoon each garlic and ginger. With wire whisk, stir to dissolve. Thicken over medium heat. When slightly thick, add the cubed tofu. Stir gently to continue thickening and heating through the tofu. Combine with the vegetables. Serve over chow mein noodles and cooked brown rice.
Note: If pan isn't large enough, stir fry half the vegetables at a time in 1 teaspoon oil.
My daughter slices the tofu into 1/2" slices, oils a pan with sesame oil, places the tofu in it and drizzles a little soy sauce and a little more sesame oil. Then she bakes it about 1/2 hour. Yummie! You can also cut it in sticks and add to soups.
Stir frying is a Chinese technique for flash-cooking meats and vegetables over high heat very quickly to retain crispness and flavor. For this you need a wok -- a deep frypan with sloping sides. You also need to use a good quality vegetable oil. Cut the vegetables into uniform size, heat the oil, then add the vegetables, tossing them around in the pan to prevent scorching, and starting with the ones that cook the slowest.
You can boil, fry, bake, and pretty much prepare tofu any way you want.
Stir frying is quickly cooking vegetables, noodles, or whatever you'd like on a stove in a frying pan as you stir and toss it over high heat.
actually tofu can be eaten raw.
to stir fry it must be prepared...read this on the plate method.
http://vegetariancuisine.suite101.com/ar...
Then you can cube it (3/4" cubes are a good size) and pan fry or deep fry the crap out of it...then when has cooked golden brown you can drain it on a paper towel and add it to your stir-fry.
Stir fry is cooking something with extreme heat and a little bit of oil...it is analogous to sauteing. I have to tell you that I have a 65,000 BTU wok that I use outside and it works great but that is more heat than most folks have in ALL of their stovetop burners COMBINED. What most people get when they stir fry at home is a quick sizzle and then the heat drops and they give it a toss and all of the water weeps from their ingredients which ends up boiling their food or steaming and NOT stirfrying.
if you do it at home you will need to have a heavy pan , get it really hot and cook your food in small batches while avoiding the #1 problem most folks do...moving the food around too much. (if it is done right you will experience a fair amount of smoke(vaporized oil).
best to ya.