Spicy green bean and tofu stew
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
A vegan stew loaded with two types of tofu, ginger, chilli and doubanjiang. Serve with thick udon noodles tossed in the rich and perfectly balanced sauce.
By Justin Tsang
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 50g/1¾oz fresh root ginger, peeled and very finely chopped
- 1 bird’s-eye chilli, very finely chopped
- 1 celery stick, very finely chopped
- 200g/7oz green beans, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang (hot broad bean paste)
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 100g/3½oz fried tofu puffs, cut in half (available from Asian supermarkets)
- 250ml/9fl oz vegetable stock or water
- 1½ tbsp cornflour, mixed with 1½ tbsp water
- 2 tbsp chilli oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 400g/14oz firm silken tofu, cut into 2–3cm/¾–1¼in cubes
- 1 spring onion, trimmed and thinly sliced
To serve
- 4 x 150–200g/5½ –7oz udon noodles, fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
- ½ cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Method
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat for about 1 minute. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the celery, green beans, doubanjiang, light soy sauce and sugar. Stir-fry for a further 1–2 minutes. Add the tofu puffs and stir to coat them in the sauce.
Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and cook for 1–2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and slowly pour in the cornflour mixture while stirring. Increase the heat to medium and simmer gently for 1–2 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
Reduce the heat to low and add the chilli oil, sesame oil and medium–soft tofu. Stir very gently to coat the tofu in the sauce, then simmer for 3 minutes. Add the spring onions and give it a final stir. Remove from the heat.
To serve, bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the udon noodles for 1 minute less than the time stated on the packet. Drain well.
Toss the noodles in the tofu sauce and divide between four bowls. Add a sprinkle of sesame seeds, cucumber and coriander to each bowl. Mix thoroughly and consume immediately – if you leave the noodles sitting for too long, they will clump together.
Recipe tips
Using two types of tofu is mainly about texture. Firm silken tofu should hold it's shape, but it's smooth and softer, which works well in sauces. Fried tofu puffs are more spongy with a crispy outside.
