Quick Spicy Silken Tofu

Soft tofu chunks in a bright orange-red sauce in a white pot.

4.72 from 52 votes

Custardy smooth soft silken tofu with crisp vegetables and a super umami spicy sauce, this tofu dish is a great takeout alternative, comes together in under 20 minutes, and is suitable for both vegans and vegetarians.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Lunch and Dinner

Cuisine: Fusion

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: large servings

Calories: 175kcal

Author: Deirdre Gilna

Ingredients

1½ Tablespoons sunflower or canola oil any bland flavorless oil will do
1 medium carrot (or 2 small)
1 yellow onion
6 shittake mushrooms 4.6 ounces
1 green bell pepper
17 oz silken tofu firm or extra-firm
Salt to taste

Spicy sauce

2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar Or substitute white/red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 clove garlic crushed
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Small dice the carrots, onion, and green pepper. Wipe the shiitake mushrooms clean with a damp cloth, cut in half, and then slice thinly.
Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, apart from the cornflour which you will add later.
Add the sunflower or canola oil to a wok or large pan and heat on high. Drain the tofu (don't press it) and slice into ½ inch to 1-inch squares or rectangles.
When the oil is smoking hot, add the vegetables and stir-fry for three minutes.
Add the whisked sauce and the tofu and gently mix. Keep the heat high and when it begins to boil, set a timer for three minutes.
Whisk the cornstarch with ¼ cup of cold water and add to the pan when the three minutes are up. Mix in quickly and carefully, when the tofu and sauce start to boil again, set a timer for two minutes.
When the two minutes are up, take the pan off the heat. Salt to taste, I add between three-quarters of a teaspoon to a full teaspoon as this sauce really needs to be salted well, but this will depend on the stock and chilli garlic sauce you used.
Serve hot over steamed white rice. Enjoy!

Notes

You'll find the larger 17oz packs of silken tofu in Asian specialty stores, they're usually much cheaper than the smaller packages you can find in regular supermarkets.

You must use a high-quality chili garlic sauce to get the best results, I use Lee Kum Kee chilli garlic sauce.

Use high-quality firm or extra-firm silken tofu (not the very soft silken tofu, keep that for desserts).

Cornstarch in the US is the same as cornflour in the UK and Ireland, a fine white powder for thickening (not to be confused with corn flour, a yellow powder made from finely ground, dried corn).

Chilli garlic sauce - while I don't recommend substituting this, some of my readers have used a smaller amount of Sriracha, sambal oelek, or harissa sauce and still had a tasty outcome.

Nutrition