Stir-Fried Beans With Tofu and Chiles

Stir-Fried Beans With Tofu and Chiles
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
7 to 8 minutes
Rating
5(393)
Notes
Read community notes

This crunchy, colorful stir-fry has an added kick from serrano chiles. I can’t resist buying an array of beans when they’re at summer farmers’ markets. I love to mix yellow and green beans in this crunchy, colorful stir-fry, but don’t hesitate to make it if all you can find is green. For added kick and color I threw in some serrano chiles from my garden that had ripened to bright red. Thai chiles will work too.

Featured in: Stir-Fries With a Touch of Thai

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • One 14-ounce box firm tofu, drained and cut in ¼-inch thick, 2-inch by ¾-inch dominoes
  • 1 to 2tablespoons soy sauce (to taste)
  • 1tablespoon Chinese cooking sherry (Shaoxing rice wine) or dry sherry
  • ½cup vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water
  • ¼ to ½teaspoon salt, to taste
  • ¼ to ½teaspoon sugar, to taste
  • 1teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot dissolved in 2 tablespoons vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water
  • 2tablespoons peanut, canola, sunflower, or grape seed oil
  • 1tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 or 2Thai or serrano chiles, minced (to taste)
  • 1pound green beans, or ½ pound each yellow and green beans, stem ends trimmed
  • 1bunch scallions, white and green parts separated
  • ½cup chopped cilantro
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

264 calories; 16 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 580 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

    Drain and dry tofu slices on paper towels. In a small bowl or measuring cup combine soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, and stock or water. Combine salt and sugar in another small bowl and cornstarch slurry in another. Have all ingredients within arm’s length of your pan.

  2. 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. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the wok or pan and swirl the pan so that the oil coats the sides, then add tofu and stir-fry until lightly colored, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to a plate.

  3. Step 3

    Swirl in remaining oil, add garlic, ginger and chiles and stir-fry for no more than 10 seconds. Add beans and white parts of the scallions, and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add salt and sugar, toss together and add soy sauce mixture. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Return tofu to the wok along with scallion greens, cilantro and cornstarch slurry. Stir together just until lightly glazed, and remove from heat. Serve with hot grains or noodles.

Tip
  • Advance preparation: You can prepare all ingredients hours in advance. Keep in the refrigerator until 15 to 30 minutes before you cook.

Ratings

5 out of 5
393 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I have never seen a recipe like this before, but for many years I have cooked almost the same dish for breakfast or lunch several times a week. I use hard tofu, seasoned with turmeric and cumin, and an assortment of chiles (all colors) in a hot, cast iron skillet with plenty of ventilation. After removing from heat, splash on a good Balsamic. Light, clean, and fast.

I think blanching the beans ahead would help, unless you have really fabulous green beans to work with. Mine were from the farmers market but still too tough/crunchy with this method for my taste.

I made a kid friendly (ages 4 and 7) version of this recipe, simply omitting the chiles, and it was surprisingly successful. Served it brown rice. The leftovers were especially tasty.

This has turned into a go-to recipe for me. Delicious served with brown rice.

Chinese people?

I found that you can scrape up the stuck pieces along with ginger and garlic once the soy sauce gets added. This actually adds some texture to the sauce.

This recipe was a revelation. I've tried countless combinations of umami rich ingredients and fussy preps to make tofu "interesting." I cooked this ONLY because I had some green beans to use up and was bone tired. It was so simple - and perfect. I couldn't believe that such an unfussy recipe could be so delicious. I've spent my life trying to jazz up tofu and here is simply fried. The sauce is so basic - i even used water, not broth. And it was so fast. What makes it so wonderful? It's magic!

Pretty good and would make again. Used frozen tofu thawed in boiling water and drained on kitchen towel (need to find that link!); love that texture. Spiced the tofu before frying. Ginger & garlic lost, will do one and a half again next time. Might try deglazing pan at end with rice wine or vinegar? Can see this being great base for endless vegetable combos.

Delicious as is but also tossing in some mushrooms is not remotely a bad idea. ;) I added them just 30 sec before the beans.

Delicious combo of flavors. Everything comes together nicely by following the stir fry steps = veggies not over cooked, which is often my stir fry fail. Keep in mind it takes waaayyyy longer to prep all the ingredients and sauces, so total cooking time was more like an hour...not 7 minutes...unless you have a prep chef living in your house with you. (Wouldn’t that be nice). I used skinny asparagus spears cut in half instead of green beans—different dish, just as delish!

Flavorful and delicious. Husband who normally turns nose up at tofu loved it. Used half a serrano pepper and it was just spicy enough.

I love NY Times recipes but this is one is lacking. I will not make again but for those of you that want to try, I would omit the salt and sugar. It added a strange taste to the sauce that already had plenty of salt with soy sauce and sugar from wine. I also would quickly parboil the beans since they were practically raw. Also would cook tofu in nonstick pan since it stuck to the pan when I used one that was not nonstick. The cornstarch slurry also was unnecessary.

The trick with the tofu is to use peanut oil at a high enough heat, and to not turn it too soon. It has taken me a whole bunch of tries to figure this out (we love this dish, so I did keep trying). I'm still always tempted to flip the tofu before it's ready. But cooked long enough in our stainless steel skillet, using a thin spatula (I actually use a frosting spatula to flip and a flat-edged wooden spoon in the other hand to guide each piece back into place) there's really no sticking at all.

Delicious, yes. 7-8 minutes? Absolutely not. Sprinkled on some toasted sesame seeds right before serving. Will make again.

Delicious but more time consuming than advertised.

Made this tonight with dragon tongue beans and an Indian hot pepper (sliced lengthwise rather than minced for gentler heat). Had fresh celery from the farm share - diced, it was a great addition. Tossed the tofu in five spice powder and cumin before baking on a cookie sheet (just a preference, makes it crispier). Next time I don’t think I’d use any salt. There is plenty in the stock and soy sauce. But it was relatively quick and very tasty!

Tasty dish. I added more dry sherry, a tomato, and hatch peppers. I omitted the sugar and cornstarch. Got rave reviews from hubby.

This turned out well, but was a mess to cook! There was so much splatter when I added the soy sauce mixture! I'm not sure how to avoid that. Otherwise it was simple to make and enjoyable to eat. I subbed mirin for the Shaoxing because that was the closest thing I had. No cilantro or chiles because I was cooking for my kid who doesn't like either.

I mistakenly used mirin once, and we decided we like it better that way.

Needed way more oil

Delicious! I skipped the Chinese sherry because...who has Chinese sherry? Also, I blanched the green beans first, and probably overdid it by about 30 seconds. But the recipe was excellent despite my error. Served with rice. Yum.

Chinese people?

I really press and dry out my tofu for a chewier texture, so the tofu needs a lot more oil when you’re frying. Otherwise they stick to the pan and break up

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