Szechuan Green Beans with Minced Tofu

This dish is often made with minced pork, which is really wonderful. But I substitute tofu for a vegetarian version, which has plenty of taste from the rich Asian flavorings, as well as the red pepper kick.

10 oz fresh thin green beans (I used Trader Joe’s haricot beans)
1 brick extra firm tofu

Tofu seasoning sauce:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Korean gochujang chili bean paste
1 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced, about 1 cup
1/2 red pepper, diced, about 1/3 cup
10 oz fresh mushrooms, cleaned, and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium pot. When boiling, salt generously and add the green beans. Cook 2 minutes only just to blanch, and then quickly drain. Cool with running cold water briefly, just until cooking has stopped - no more than warm to the touch (if you rinse too much, you will remove too much of the salt which helps flavor the beans).

In the meantime, crumble the tofu into a medium bowl.

Mix together the seasoning sauce in a small bowl until smooth. Toss well with the tofu. Heat a dash of canola or peanut oil in a wide non-stick skillet to medium-high. When almost smoking, add the tofu mixture and begin to stir fry, tossing often. After the tofu stops steaming, reduce the heat to medium and continue stir frying so tofu achieves a darker color and richer flavor, about 10 minutes.

While the tofu is cooking, stir fry the onions and peppers in another dash canola or peanut oil in a separate non-stick skillet.

Cook for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to high and add the mushrooms. Allow the mixture to cook, and the mushrooms to release what water they will, about another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Now add the green beans to the veggie mixture and heat the beans through.

At this point the tofu should be nicely browned. Fold the tofu gently into the green beans and heat through.

Serve over rice. Serves 4.

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