Spicy FriedTofu with Japanese Bean Sprouts and Asparagus

I still have a couple of Japanese recipes, I have wanted to post for some time now. Since there is not really anything spectacular happening in my life right now, I'll post the first two of them. I hope you remember that this is NOT a food blog, even though my life seems to revolve around cooking and eating. It will get better next week because tomorrow we are leaving for Birmingham. But until then enjoy some Japanese cuisine. The first one is a spicy fried tofu. Originally it was made with minced pork but I ruthlessly veganised it.

Unfortunately I have forgotten where I had the original recipe from. It was probably on cookpad but I can't find it there anymore. Anonymous cook, if you think this was your recipe, please comment. And here is my recipe:

Spicy Fried Tofu

Ingredients

1 package firm tofu (cotton tofu) about 450 g

300 g soy mince

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 bottle passata (450 ml)

2 tablespoons of chopped unsalted peanuts

2 tablespoons soy sauce

starch and water for thickening

sesame oil

rice flour for coating the tofu

What to do

1. Cut tofu in slices and pat dry. you may want to press the tofu slightly with a kitchen towel to remove as much moisture as possible. Coat the tofu slices in rice flour.

2. Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan and bake the tofu golden brown, put aside.

3.Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Add the minced garlic, chopped ginger, and most of the green onions (keep some for decoration). Stir-fry with the soy mince. Add the passata, mix well and let cook on a low flame for a couple of minutes.

4. Add the soy sauce and chopped peanut and heat through.

5. Thicken to the desired consistency with some starch disolved in cold water.

6. Put tofu on top and let simmer to reheat the tofu.

7. Sprinkle with the remaining green onions and serve with rice.

8. You may want to add some spices to your sauce. It is completely up to you how hot you want to go. I added some chili pepper, cumin, and pepper.

Since this is a heavy load of proteins (C made a bike tour the day before and needed to restore his muscle power) I added a Japanese vegetable dish; beans sprouts and asparagus and this time I know where I got the recipe from :) It is from the lettuce club webpage.

What looks like some kind of weirdo spaghettis are actually bean sprouts. Yes they were a bit thinly but I didn't want to drive to the Asia shop in town. So that was the best I could do. But it was very yummie so they served their purpose.

Japanese Bean Sprouts and Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bag of beansprouts

1 bunch (500g) green asparagus

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon mirin

coarsely ground black pepper, salt, sesame oil

What to do:

1. Carefully wash the beansprouts, put them in a colander and let the water drip off

2. Peel the lower third of the asparagus, cut dioganally in thick slices 

3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic until fragrant; add the asparagus and fry with low heat until asparagus is done but still crispy. You may add a little bit of water and cover the pot for 2 or 3 minutes.

4. Add the beansprouts, mix quickly and add the mirin, salt, and spices.

5. Sprinkle with sesame oil.

And that is what everything combined looked like:

Sorry for the Chinese chop sticks *blush*