Black Vinegar Tofu Dinner

Black Vinegar, Sichuan Peppercorns, oh my!

Delicious Lunch and Amazing Tangerine Juice

I have been trying to recreate my sister’s amazing recipe for Tofu and Spinach for months now. First, I couldn’t find the sichuan peppercorns. Next, the black vinegar. These just weren’t in my neighborhood Asian grocers.

Straight from MY SISTER’S WEBSITE comes a tofu stir-fry and spinach dish that has so much potential that I’m hell-bent on making this dish work for me. I have yet to make it properly inadvertently skipping steps time and again. But now is the day! Time to make it all come together.

So I’m here to say, don’t skip or switch out any ingredients like I do. In the recipe below I’ve eliminated my sister’s salt and low-sodium soy sauce. I am a tamari person, it seems to do the trick for me.

And I tried making this with almonds, but after having done so, I’d highly recommend sticking with peanuts. Now, if you use already dry roasted peanuts, you want to avoid the salted ones, you already have a lot of salt in here, so keep things as salt free as possible here.

Fry it up in a Pan

At any rate, I have a thing for great tofu meals, and too often I cop out and just throw a pork tenderloin on the grill, because it takes so little effort. Once you make this dish, you realize tofu can be just as simple.

Almonds, not Cashews, My Bad

Tofu stir-fry with Spinach

Ingredients

Extra Firm Tofu, drained and cubed

2 T cornstarch

2 T ketchup

2 T unseasoned rice wine or dry sherry

2 T tamari

2 T black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1/2 t chili crisp

1 T Sichuan peppercorns

1/4 c peanut oil

1/2 c dry roasted peanuts

1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

5 c baby spinach

Freshly ground white pepper

Instructions

In a smaller bowl, stir together the ketchup, rice wine, soy sauce, vinegar, and spicy chili crisp. Set aside.

In a small pan over medium heat, toast the Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and crush 1/2 tablespoon of the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Set aside. Leave the remaining peppercorns whole.

Tofu Fried in Peanut Oil

Heat a wok over high heat and, when wok starts to smoke, add the peanut oil. Add tofu and fry until light brown. Remove tofu and descard all oil except for 2 tbsps.

Add back the tofu, Sichuan peppercorns, spinach, scallions, cilantro, reserved sauce and peanuts and cook until the sauce has reduced slightly and is sticky and has a thicker consistency.

Serve immediately with rice.