Getting advice from a number of friends who have cooked from Chinese restaurants, I have finally gotten to the point where I can make a pretty decent spicy stir-fry.

My Process

Here’s my process and ingredients for a decent spicy Tofu Stir-Fry

Ingredients
Cooked rice (I usually start to cook my rice when I’m starting preparation for the stir-fry for timing)
1 block organic extra firm tofu
Crushed red pepper
3 Tablespoons Canola oil (separated into 1 and 2 tablespoons)
Black pepper

Snow Peas
Broccoli florets
1 Medium sized white onion coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
4 scallions sliced and separated into the white part and the green part (for garnish)
1 Tablespoon minced fresh giner
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons white sugar
2 Tablespoons pepper paste with garlic (see jar below)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg, beaten (optional)

Process
After starting the rice, I place the block of tofu on a plate and cover it with plastic cling wrap, and put a fry pan or something slightly heavy on top of it (to squeeze out as much water as I can).

I dump out the excess water from the plate and cut up the tofu in bite-size squares and sprinkle the tofu with the crushed red pepper flakes and ground black pepper.

In a non-stick skillet, using 1 TBL of the Canola Oil, I lightly brown the tofu (on all sides) and then put it aside for adding into the stir-fry later.

Prepare the stir-fry process with plate 1 – Onions, broccoli, garlic, ginger and white part of scallions, plate 2 with pea pods and then tofu, sauce and green part of scallions separated.

In a VERY hot skillet or wok with 2 Tablespoons canola oil (I keep a spatter guard handy for when I throw things into the pan and the overhead fan on high), I throw in the contents of plate 1, keeping it mainly to one side of the pan…I don’t stir at all…just let things caramelize as they will…30 seconds later, I throw in the pea pods on the other side of the pan without stirring for 30 seconds more.  Then I throw in the tofu and stir the mix, letting it cook on high heat for another 30 seconds.  Finally I add in an optional egg on the side of the pan and scramble it up a bit.  Stir all the ingredients and then pour the soy sauce mixture over everything and let it simmer/thicken for about a minute.

Finally, I put the green scallions on top to garnish and serve with rice.

Voilà!

Current Knitting

I started to use the solids of the Sock-Ease yarn to make a pair or two of multi-colored socks.

I wasn’t thrilled with how the colors were mixing, nor did I like how the colors got carried up the side of the toe.  I pulled it out and decided to make scarves out of the yarn.

I’m liking the way this yarn works with the Cross Stitch Scarf pattern MUCH more than the sock.  The nylon in Sock-Ease yarn not only makes these scarves machine washable, but it also adds a lofty softness to the knitted fabric that I like a lot.