Easy tofu and asparagus stir fry

I’ve been wondering all day why there were so many photos of dishes with asparagus at Food Gawker until I read that asparagus and spring go together. I never really associated vegetables with seasons. We get most vegetables, including asparagus, in this part of the world all year ’round except that they’re more expensive during the rainy season. Fruits, of course, are an altogether different issue because they come and go with the seasons.

tofu-asparagus

Anyway, lunch today was this tofu and asparagus stir fry. It was just a supplement, really, because we had leftover pasta from last night. I cooked two pizzas (margherita) and a pot of Italian sausage pasta last night (yes, I will be posting the recipes for both in a short while) and, obviously, I overestimated my household’s eating capacity. Both pizzas were gone before everyone went to bed but there was some pasta left that I wasn’t sure would be enough for lunch.

Is this dish complicated? Of course not! This is a dish with only eight ingredients — nine if you count the cooking oil. Preparation time is ten minutes; cooking time is under 10 minutes.

Serves 3 to 4.

Ingredients:

1 cake of firm tofu (about 300 grams)
250 g. of baby asparagus
4 cloves (segments) of garlic
1 onion
1 tbsp. of oyster sauce
1 tbsp. of hoisin sauce
freshly ground pepper
a drizzle of sesame seed oil
2 c. of cooking oil for deep frying

Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.

Cut the tofu into two-inch squares (smaller, if you like). Cut the asparagus into thirds. Crush, peel and finely mince the garlic. Peel, halve and finely slice the onion.

When the oil is hot, deep fry the tofu cubes (see tips on frying tofu) until golden brown about five minutes. Scoop out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Pour off the oil until only about a tablespoonful remains. Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Add the asparagus and stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add the cooked tofu, pour in the hoisin and oyster sauces, season with pepper (and some salt, if you like), and toss just until the sauces are evenly distributed. Drizzle with sesame seed oil, toss a few times and serve at once.

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April 24, 2009  Print This Post   
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Comments

7 Responses to “Easy tofu and asparagus stir fry”
  1. maria says:
    April 24, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    Oh that looks yummy. I’ve got to give that a try. It looks healthy too. I’m going to give this a try this weekend.

    And timely too. It’s spring over here in Ontario and asparagus is abundant again. I had asparagus earlier this week which was served blanched with a mayonnaise herbed sauce. Love it’s taste.

    Maria

    Reply
    • Connie says:
      April 25, 2009 at 3:53 am

      There’s a canape that my mother-in-law once made (for my daughter’s christening party, if I remember correctly) — crustless bread wrapped around white asparagus spears smothered with mayo. Ah, delicious!

      Reply
  2. taj says:
    April 30, 2009 at 4:11 pm

    there’s a similar tofu dish served at Max’s, the difference is that they put ginger and shitake mushrooms. tastes good and i’ve tried making it several times. ang sasarap ng recipes mo, connie!

    Reply
  3. Alunsina Nunez says:
    May 5, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    tried this plus added chili garlic sauce. whew! sarap!

    Reply
  4. beth says:
    May 11, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    hi connie,
    i have tried the recipe and it was really good. i have a tofu with bbq flavor and also added a little worcestershire sauce..my husband liked it. tnx much for the creativity and sharing it with us. God bless .. beth

    Reply
  5. Edwin K. says:
    May 31, 2009 at 10:57 am

    This recipe looks delicious Ms. Connie. I’m going to try this out one of these days but I guess I’ll have to make do with canned asparagus
    since it’s impossible to find any fresh ones here in our place.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
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