Spicy Garlic Stir Fry

March 28, 2020

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At The RV Thing, we had a cooking demonstration and this Spicy Garlic Stir Fry was one of the three recipes we made for everyone. 

I chose this recipe because it's super versatile, easy for novice cooks, and makes sense in small kitchens like in an RV.

Recipe demo at The RV Thing


Dan and Ellen

Amazing, educational and fun vegan presentation at #thervthing! Can't wait to try out those delicious recipes from #veganrv!

Vegetable options for Spicy Garlic Stir Fry

bowl of colorful prepped vegetables for spicy garlic stir fry.

The recipe as written for this spicy garlic stir fry calls for broccoli. And you can't go wrong with broccoli. Fresh or frozen works great! But you can also make this recipe with bagged frozen stir fry mix. Or, you can use your favorite vegetables.

A few vegetables that we have found work great in this stir fry are bell peppers, carrots, green beans, bok choy, cabbage, baby corn, water chestnuts, celery, mushrooms, and more! This is the perfect recipe to try out some greens you found at the Asian market.

If your dish ends up too watery for your tastes

One thing to note about different vegetables is that they have different water contents. Vegetables like bok choy, cabbage, and mushrooms will release water as they cook, more so than broccoli. 

If your sauce doesn't thicken up like it should, you can add a teaspoon or two of corn starch to a couple of tablespoons of cold water, mix well, and add to the liquid in the pan. ​You'll see in the video for this recipe that happened to me. But I chose not to add more thickener to the sauce because the rice was going to soak it up anyway.

How I press tofu

You can press tofu by putting it between two plates with heavy objects on top. But we eat so much tofu that it made sense for us to get a specialized tofu press. 

We have the Tofu Xpress. We like it better than some of the other tofu presses available because it has sides to it. This enables the tofu to press more evenly when you use a full block.

For this recipe, I used half a block. And it gave me the perfect example of "tofu blowout." This is what can happen when you use a tofu press without sides. Instead of a nice, neat block of tofu, sometimes the sides will buckle. 

You can get around this by wrapping the tofu in a paper towel or cloth but to us that just seems like extra waste or fuss.

side of tofu collapsed when pressed.

Spicy Garlic Stir Fry

This versatile recipe makes use of just about any veggies you have on hand.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 523kcal

Equipment

  • Non-stick frying pan
  • Tofu Xpress

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
  • 2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste

Remaining Ingredients

  • 1/2 onion sliced and separated into long pieces
  • 6 cups broccoli florets or your favorite veggie mix
  • 8 oz. firm tofu pre-cooked, or use favorite mock meat
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice to serve

Instructions

  • Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
  • In a large non-stick skillet, cook onion over high heat until it begins to soften. Add broccoli or other veggies and cook until they start to soften. Add tofu or mock meat and all but 2 tablespoons of the sauce and stir to coat. Cook for a couple of minutes.
  • Add the cornstarch to the remaining sauce and stir until smooth. Add to the pan and stir. Cook until sauce thickens. Serve with rice.

Video

Notes

To lower sodium, use broth with no added salt and reduced sodium soy sauce.

We rely on this Spicy Garlic Stir Fry recipe all the time for quick, healthy meals. If you try it, please let us know how you enjoyed it!

What are your favorite veggies in a stir fry?

Laura Nunemaker

About the Author

Laura Nunemaker

vegan. full-time traveler. rv dweller. food lover. cow petter.

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