This Spicy Tofu Stir Fry is an incredibly flavourful tofu dish you can prepare in less than 20 minutes. Tofu cubes and vegetables tossed with simple seasonings. A kick of chili oil in the dish makes all the difference to the regular tofu stir fry.
Some might find tofu is plain and boring but, I love tofu and make tofu dishes frequently in our family meal rotation. If you know how to cook it right and pair it with other vegetables and meat, tofu dishes are healthy, nutritious, and super delicious. If you love Chinese tofu dishes, you might also want to try out our family favourite Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu and Crispy Szechuan Tofu Stir Fry recipes.
Ingredients we need
- Tofu : Use firm tofu or extra firm tofu and drain the water out from the packet, pat dry the tofu with a paper towel. My tip is to pan-fry the tofu cubes first to prevent them from breaking. You can buy tofu in most Oriental/Chinese supermarkets. Do not recommend soft tofu for this recipe.
- Vegetables: This tofu dish is very versatile, you can customize it with your favourite stir fry vegetables. Start adding the hard vegetables first in your stir fry.
- Seasonings: Season with oyster sauce, soy sauce, and crispy chilli oil. Add salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
- Chilli Oil: I use store-bought Laoganma crispy chilli oil in this recipe, you can also use chilli garlic oil or Sichuan chilli oil. You can buy Chinese Lao Gan Ma Chilli Oil and Lee Kum Kee Chilli oil in most Chinese/Oriental supermarkets or on Amazon online, or try my homemade chilli oil recipe.
How To Make Spicy Tofu Stir Fry
First, pat dry the tofu with paper towels or a clean cloth and press gently with your hand to remove excess moisture. Dice the tofu into small cubes about 1-inch pieces.
Gather and prepare all the stir fry vegetables and seasoning sauces.
Heat the pan to medium heat. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil and stir fry the tofu pieces until light brown. Remove the tofu pieces from the pan and set them aside.
In the remaining pan, add the garlic and stir fry for a few seconds. Then follow with the onion cubes and stir fry for a few seconds.
Next, add the shiitake mushroom and lotus root and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the bell pepper and stir fry for another 1 min and place the fried tofu pieces back in the wok.
Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce, chilli oil, salt, and black pepper to taste.
Combine all ingredients and seasonings evenly and continue cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until all the vegetables cook through.
Finish with spring onions and transfer to a serving plate. Simply delicious stir fry tofu is ready, serve immediately! Perfect with hot streamed rice or simple stir fry noodle. Enjoy!
How to Serve This Dish
We usually serve it with hot steamed rice and make it a quick meal. You can also serve it with egg fried rice, stir fry noodles or pair it with other dishes like Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup, Crispy Orange Chicken, or Crispy Shredded Chicken and make it a wholesome family dinner.
Frequently asked questions
Tofu is made from bean curd and is a great source of plant-based protein, rich in iron, calcium, and essential amino acids. Originated in China and one of the staple ingredients in Chinese and most Oriental cuisines. There are two different types of tofu, firm tofu and soft tofu. It can be cooked on its own and made it fried tofu or add to stir-fries, soups, and curries.
To create the super-crispy tofu coating, coat the tofu cubes in corn starch or potato starch, and toss the excess flour out before frying. Then pan fry the coated tofu cubes until crispy golden.
To make sweet chilli tofu stir fry, swap crispy chilli oil with Thai/Chinese sweet chilli sauce.
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Ingredients
Ingredients
- 400 g Firm Tofu Cut into small cubes
- 3-4 slices Lotus Root Cut small pieces
- 3-4 slices Dry Shitake Mushroom ( soaked in warm water for 15-30 mins ) Cut thin slices
- 2-3 slices Garlic Cut thin slices or roughly chopped
- ½ Onion Cut in small cubes
- ½ Bell Pepper Cut in small squares
- 2-3 Spring Onions Cut thin slices
- 1 tbsp Oil Vegetable or neutral flavour oil
Sauce
- 1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- ÂĽ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Salt Optional
- 2 tsp Chilli Oil
Instructions
- Heat the pan into medium heat, drizzle a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Stir fry the tofu pieces until light golden brown. Remove the tofu pieces from pan and set aside.
- Add the garlic slices into the pan and stir fry for few seconds, next add the onion cubes and stir fry for few seconds.
- Place the shitake mushroom and lotus root and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Follow with the bell pepper and place the fried tofu back in the pan. Season with, soy sauce, oyster sauce, black pepper, chilli oil. You can add salt to taste or skip salt according to your preference.
- Mix well to combine all ingredients evenly and continue stir fry with medium high heat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Sprinkle spring onions in the final step and toss well. Transfer to serving plate and serve immediately.
- Perfect with hot streamed rice or simple stir fry noodle. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Mushroom - If you don't have dry shitake mushroom you can use button or closed-up mushroom of your choice.
- Vegetable - You don't need to use exact same ingredients, feel free to swap with your favourite stir fry vegetables.Â
- Chilli oil - You can use Lao Gan Ma Chilli oil, Lee Kum Kee chilli oil, or any of your favourite Chinese chilli oil. If you want to use a homemade one check out my  Chilli Garlic and Sichuan Chilli Oil recipe.Â
- Vegetarian option - Use vegetarian stir fry sauce or mushroom stir fry sauce instead of oyster sauce. You can find it in Lee Kum Kee brand.Â
Ellie says
I made this tofu stir fry without chilli oil. I add a dash of chilli flakes and it was so good! And I also didn't had lotus root, I will add next time, if I can get at my local Chinese grocery.
Khin says
So glad that you enjoyed it, Ellie! Thank you so much for trying out this tofu recipe.