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Black bean tofu and baby pak choi

Name: Black bean tofu and baby pak choi
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side
Cuisine: Chinese recipes
Ingredients: 1 tbsp cornflour; 1 tbsp rapeseed oil; 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger; 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped; 1 bird’s eye chilli, deseeded and chopped; 1 tbsp fermented salted black beans, rinsed and lightly crushed (see Know-how); 1 tbsp yellow bean or miso paste (see Know-how); 250g ready-fried tofu (see tip), quartered; 1 tbsp shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry (see Know-how); 2 green peppers, deseeded and cut into 1.5cm chunks; 200ml vegetable stock (vegan if it needs to be); 1 tbsp tamari or reduced-salt light soy sauce; Cooked jasmine rice to serve; For the pak choi; 200g baby pak choi, halved; 1 tbsp shaohsing rice wine; 1 tbsp tamari or reduced-salt light soy sauce; 1 tsp toasted sesame oil; 2.5cm piece fresh ginger, sliced into matchsticks; You’ll also need; Steamer

By: Ching He Huang

Published: 3 Feb 21
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Ching-He Huang’s healthy vegan recipe with black bean tofu and baby pak choi is a winner for vegan Chinese New Year celebrations.

Ching says: “A touch of a good-quality yellow bean paste gives this dish a savoury, mellow edge.”

This recipe is taken from Asian Green by Ching-He Huang (Kyle Books £20).

For more vegan recipes by Ching to add to your Chinese New Year table, check out her hot and sour soup and Hunan-style crispy sweet chilli mushroom and noodle salad, also from Asian Green.

Easy
February 2021

Test kitchen approved

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side
Hands-on time 30 min

Ching-He Huang’s healthy vegan recipe with black bean tofu and baby pak choi is a winner for vegan Chinese New Year celebrations.

Ching says: “A touch of a good-quality yellow bean paste gives this dish a savoury, mellow edge.”

This recipe is taken from Asian Green by Ching-He Huang (Kyle Books £20).

For more vegan recipes by Ching to add to your Chinese New Year table, check out her hot and sour soup and Hunan-style crispy sweet chilli mushroom and noodle salad, also from Asian Green.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 256kcals
Fat: 15.1g (0.5g saturated)
Protein: 17.4g
Carbohydrates: 10.2g (4.3g sugars)
Fibre: 3.1g
Salt: 1.4g

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Ingredients

1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 bird’s eye chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp fermented salted black beans, rinsed and lightly crushed (see Know-how)
1 tbsp yellow bean or miso paste (see Know-how)
250g ready-fried tofu (see tip), quartered
1 tbsp shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry (see Know-how)
2 green peppers, deseeded and cut into 1.5cm chunks
200ml vegetable stock (vegan if it needs to be)
1 tbsp tamari or reduced-salt light soy sauce
Cooked jasmine rice to serve

For the pak choi

200g baby pak choi, halved
1 tbsp shaohsing rice wine
1 tbsp tamari or reduced-salt light soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2.5cm piece fresh ginger, sliced into matchsticks

You’ll also need

Steamer

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Method

For the pak choi, put a heatproof plate inside a steamer with the pak choi on it. Season with salt, rice wine, tamari/light soy sauce and sesame oil, then lay the ginger slices over the top. Put the lid on the steamer, bring to the boil, then gently steam over a low heat for 3-4 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small jug or cup, mix the cornflour with 2 tbsp water to create a paste. Put a wok or deep frying pan over a high heat and add the rapeseed oil. When it starts to smoke, add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the black beans and yellow bean or miso paste and stir quickly.
Add the tofu and stir-fry for 1 minute, keeping the ingredients moving in the wok, then add the rice wine or sherry and the peppers and stir-fry for a further minute.

Add the stock and bring to the boil. Season with the tamari or soy sauce, then add the cornflour paste and stir to thicken. Serve the tofu alongside the pak choi and jasmine rice.

Recipe from February 2021 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 256kcals
Fat: 15.1g (0.5g saturated)
Protein: 17.4g
Carbohydrates: 10.2g (4.3g sugars)
Fibre: 3.1g
Salt: 1.4g

delicious. tips

Ching says: “If you can’t get hold of ready-fried tofu, put a block of tofu in the freezer overnight, then defrost before use. The water crystals will produce large pores in the tofu that make it extra spongy, helping it absorb lots of sauce – and, therefore, flavour.”
Fermented salted black beans, sometimes sold as salted black beans or soybeans, are preserved black soya beans with a deep umami flavour. Buy them in Asian supermarkets or from Amazon. If you can’t find them, you could use fermented black bean paste (from the Cook’s Ingredients range at Waitrose) or any black bean sauce from a jar.

Yellow bean paste is a sweet-salty sauce – we used Woh Hup Yellow Bean Sauce, available from Asian supermarkets. Shaohsing rice wine adds aroma and depth to dishes; it’s available from larger supermarkets.