Chile-Crisped Tofu with Edamame, Snow Peas, and Sesame
Firm tofu torn into rough pieces and fried until the edges are crunchy, then tossed hot with edamame, snow peas, slivered chile, ginger, and toasted sesame seeds.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Tearing tofu is the single change that made me cook it happily. A knife gives you six flat faces and a slippery surface, and flat slippery surfaces brown thinly and unevenly. Hands give you torn faces full of ridges and hollows, and every one of those catches oil and turns genuinely crunchy. Pressing matters too, though not for as long as people say. Ten minutes under something heavy takes out enough water that the pieces sear rather than spit, and that is all you need with extra-firm tofu. The rest is heat and restraint: a hot pan, a single layer, and four minutes of not touching it.
The vegetables are chosen for speed and for how they eat against something crisp. Snow peas are the fastest green vegetable I know, ninety seconds from raw to bright and squeaky, and any longer turns them army-colored and sad. Edamame need only to warm through, and they go sweet and firm and give the pan its weight. Ginger cut into shreds instead of grated keeps its bite and turns up in individual mouthfuls. There is very little liquid here on purpose. A tablespoon and a half of soy sauce and a squeeze of lime go in off the heat, so they season the pan without softening what you just spent five minutes crisping.
This is a fast dinner that does not feel like a compromise, and it is what I cook when the refrigerator is thin and the freezer has edamame in it. It is also good cold the next day, which is not true of most crisp things. If you have a wok, use it, but a heavy twelve-inch skillet does this perfectly well as long as you give the tofu room to sit in one layer. I make it year round and most often in the summer, when snow peas are cheap and the idea of an oven is out of the question. The whole thing is knife work, ten minutes at the stove, and a bowl big enough to toss it in at the end.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb extra-firm tofu, drained, pressed 10 minutes, and torn into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups shelled edamame, thawed if frozen
- 3 cups snow peas (about 9 oz), strings pulled
- 5 scallions, whites sliced thin and greens cut into 1-inch lengths
- 5 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and cut into fine shreds
- 1 fresh red or green chile, seeded and cut into thin slivers
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- Press and tear the tofu: Drain the tofu, wrap the block in a clean towel, and set something heavy on it for ten minutes while you prepare everything else. Unwrap it and tear it into rough inch-sized pieces with your hands. The ragged faces are what crisp, so resist the urge to tidy them into cubes.
- Toast the sesame seeds: Put the sesame seeds in a large dry wok or skillet over medium heat and toast for two to three minutes, shaking the pan constantly, until they are gold and popping. Tip them into a small bowl. They burn from perfect in about fifteen seconds, so do not walk away.
- Crisp the tofu: Add the avocado oil to the pan and raise the heat to medium-high. Lay the tofu pieces in a single layer and leave them completely alone for four minutes, until the undersides are deep gold and lift cleanly. Toss and cook three to four minutes more, turning only twice, until most faces are browned and the edges are crunchy. Move the tofu to a plate.
- Cook the aromatics and vegetables: Add the sesame oil, the scallion whites, garlic, ginger, and chile to the hot pan and stir for forty seconds, until fragrant and just short of coloring. Add the edamame and cook for one minute, then the snow peas, and cook ninety seconds more, tossing constantly, until the peas have turned vivid green and still snap when you bite one.
- Bring it together off the heat: Return the tofu, add the scallion greens, and toss twice. Take the pan off the burner, pour in the soy sauce and lime juice around the edges, and toss once more so everything gets seasoned without the tofu sitting in liquid. Scatter the sesame seeds over and serve straight away.
Variations
- Green beans and basil: Swap the snow peas for green beans cut in half, given three minutes rather than ninety seconds, and finish with torn basil.
- Peanut and lime: Scatter chopped roasted peanuts over with the sesame seeds and double the lime for a version with more sourness and crunch.
- Tempeh: Use fourteen ounces of tempeh broken into pieces in place of the tofu, browned the same way for five minutes.
- Bok choy: Add a head of bok choy, stems and leaves separated, with the edamame, for a leafier and juicier pan.
Storage & Leftovers
This keeps three days in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The tofu gives up some of its crunch overnight, which is unavoidable, but it stays chewy and pleasant rather than going soggy, and the snow peas hold their color better than most green vegetables.
Reheat it in a dry skillet over high heat for two to three minutes, tossing, which brings back a surprising amount of the crisp edge. Skip the microwave if you can, since it softens the tofu completely and takes the snap out of the peas.
I would not freeze it. Tofu that has been frozen and thawed changes texture entirely, going spongy and open-grained, and snow peas turn limp. If you want a head start, press and tear the tofu and cut all the aromatics up to a day ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator.
Notes & Tips
- Tear it, do not cube it: Torn faces have ridges and hollows, and every one of them holds oil and crisps. A knife gives you six flat sides and half the crunch.
- Give the tofu the whole pan: A pound and a half needs a twelve-inch skillet to sit in one layer. Crowded pieces release water and boil each other, and no amount of extra time fixes it.
- Shred ginger instead of grating it: Grated ginger disappears into the oil. Fine shreds stay as distinct, sharp bites that turn up throughout the bowl.
- Sauce goes in off the heat: Soy sauce hitting a screaming pan evaporates into salt and steam, and it soaks the tofu you just crisped. Pull the pan first and pour around the edges.
- Watch the sesame seeds: They go from gold to burnt in fifteen seconds. Keep the pan moving and tip them out the moment they start to pop.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Tofu, edamame, and sesame seeds together give this bowl its substance. The tofu carries most of the protein, the edamame add more alongside the fiber, and the sesame brings the fat that makes a plate of soy and green vegetables eat like a full dinner.
- Tofu made with calcium sulfate, which most firm tofu is, carries a real amount of calcium along with complete protein. Pressing and tearing it changes nothing about that and everything about how it eats.
- Edamame are soybeans picked young, which is why they stay sweet and firm rather than turning starchy, and they hold both fiber and protein in a way most green vegetables do not.
- Snow peas cooked for ninety seconds keep their vitamin C and their snap, both of which are lost together. The moment they go from bright to dull is the moment to take the pan off the heat.
- Ginger, garlic, and fresh chile are what make this taste sharp and alive. The gingerols in fresh ginger are strongest before it is cooked hard, which is why the shreds go in for less than a minute and the lime goes in at the very end.
- As you eat, listen for the crunch on the tofu edges and the snap of a snow pea, and notice how much of the pleasure here is texture, which is a good reason to chew slowly and stop when the bowl has done its job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really have to press the tofu?
For ten minutes, yes, and extra-firm tofu does not need longer. Water on the surface turns to steam the moment it meets hot oil, and steam is what stops browning. If you are short on time, blot the block hard on all sides with paper towel and accept slightly less crunch.
Can I use frozen snow peas?
Fresh is much better here, because frozen pods come out of the bag already soft and go limp within a minute. If frozen is what you have, add them at the very end with the tofu and just warm them through rather than trying to cook them.
How do I keep the tofu from sticking?
Give the pan time to get properly hot before the oil goes in, use enough oil to slick the whole surface, and then leave the pieces alone. Tofu sticks while its crust is forming and releases on its own once it has one. If it fights you, it is not ready.
What can I serve this with?
It stands on its own as a bowl, which is how I eat it. If you want something alongside, quick-pickled cucumber takes five minutes and gives you something cold and sharp against a hot pan.