Tofu & Vegetables in Black bean sauce

This is a vegetarian version of lovely Barbara of Tigers & Strawberries Peng’s Home style Bean-curd recipe. I had some baked tofu left over from this dish, that I made earlier, in the fridge. You can use extra firm tofu or baked tofu for this recipe.

Ingredients:

Extra firm tofu – 16 oz. package, drained, chopped into bite size pieces

Mixed vegetables – 2 cups (carrots, peppers, mushroom, snow peas, onions, celery etc – I used frozen snow pea stir fry blend)

Black bean sauce – 2 tbsp
Red chili flakes – 1 tsp
Ginger – 1 tsp
Garlic – 2 cloves, finely chopped
Soy sauce (low sodium) – 3 tbsp
Sesame oil – 1 tsp
Corn flour – 2 tsp (mixed in ¼ cup water to make a slurry)

Method:

• Fry tofu in little bit of oil, so that the pieces are lightly browned evenly on all sides. Remove and keep aside. Skip this step if using baked tofu.
  
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or large pan, add ginger, garlic and chili flakes. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
  
• Add the vegetables and black bean sauce; stir fry till the veggies are crisp tender, about 7-10 minutes.
  
• Add soy sauce, corn flour slurry and 1 cup water, cook for about 2 minutes until the gravy is thick. Serve with brown rice.

Note: I added black bean sauce to the oil right after ginger and garlic and found out the hard way that its not a very good idea. The sauce hissed and sputtered in the hot oil and all over the stove and counters. So, don't try this at home.