Stir-Fried Beans With Tofu and Chiles Recipe (2024)

I have never seen a recipe like this before, but for many years I have cooked almost the same dish for breakfast or lunch several times a week. I use hard tofu, seasoned with turmeric and cumin, and an assortment of chiles (all colors) in a hot, cast iron skillet with plenty of ventilation. After removing from heat, splash on a good Balsamic. Light, clean, and fast.

I think blanching the beans ahead would help, unless you have really fabulous green beans to work with. Mine were from the farmers market but still too tough/crunchy with this method for my taste.

I made a kid friendly (ages 4 and 7) version of this recipe, simply omitting the chiles, and it was surprisingly successful. Served it brown rice. The leftovers were especially tasty.

This has turned into a go-to recipe for me. Delicious served with brown rice.

Chinese people?

I found that you can scrape up the stuck pieces along with ginger and garlic once the soy sauce gets added. This actually adds some texture to the sauce.

This recipe was a revelation. I've tried countless combinations of umami rich ingredients and fussy preps to make tofu "interesting." I cooked this ONLY because I had some green beans to use up and was bone tired. It was so simple - and perfect. I couldn't believe that such an unfussy recipe could be so delicious. I've spent my life trying to jazz up tofu and here is simply fried. The sauce is so basic - i even used water, not broth. And it was so fast. What makes it so wonderful? It's magic!

Pretty good and would make again. Used frozen tofu thawed in boiling water and drained on kitchen towel (need to find that link!); love that texture. Spiced the tofu before frying. Ginger & garlic lost, will do one and a half again next time. Might try deglazing pan at end with rice wine or vinegar? Can see this being great base for endless vegetable combos.

Delicious as is but also tossing in some mushrooms is not remotely a bad idea. ;) I added them just 30 sec before the beans.

Delicious combo of flavors. Everything comes together nicely by following the stir fry steps = veggies not over cooked, which is often my stir fry fail. Keep in mind it takes waaayyyy longer to prep all the ingredients and sauces, so total cooking time was more like an hour...not 7 minutes...unless you have a prep chef living in your house with you. (Wouldn’t that be nice). I used skinny asparagus spears cut in half instead of green beans—different dish, just as delish!

Flavorful and delicious. Husband who normally turns nose up at tofu loved it. Used half a serrano pepper and it was just spicy enough.

I love NY Times recipes but this is one is lacking. I will not make again but for those of you that want to try, I would omit the salt and sugar. It added a strange taste to the sauce that already had plenty of salt with soy sauce and sugar from wine. I also would quickly parboil the beans since they were practically raw. Also would cook tofu in nonstick pan since it stuck to the pan when I used one that was not nonstick. The cornstarch slurry also was unnecessary.

The trick with the tofu is to use peanut oil at a high enough heat, and to not turn it too soon. It has taken me a whole bunch of tries to figure this out (we love this dish, so I did keep trying). I'm still always tempted to flip the tofu before it's ready. But cooked long enough in our stainless steel skillet, using a thin spatula (I actually use a frosting spatula to flip and a flat-edged wooden spoon in the other hand to guide each piece back into place) there's really no sticking at all.

Delicious, yes. 7-8 minutes? Absolutely not. Sprinkled on some toasted sesame seeds right before serving. Will make again.

Delicious but more time consuming than advertised.

Made this tonight with dragon tongue beans and an Indian hot pepper (sliced lengthwise rather than minced for gentler heat). Had fresh celery from the farm share - diced, it was a great addition. Tossed the tofu in five spice powder and cumin before baking on a cookie sheet (just a preference, makes it crispier). Next time I don’t think I’d use any salt. There is plenty in the stock and soy sauce. But it was relatively quick and very tasty!

Tasty dish. I added more dry sherry, a tomato, and hatch peppers. I omitted the sugar and cornstarch. Got rave reviews from hubby.

This turned out well, but was a mess to cook! There was so much splatter when I added the soy sauce mixture! I'm not sure how to avoid that. Otherwise it was simple to make and enjoyable to eat. I subbed mirin for the Shaoxing because that was the closest thing I had. No cilantro or chiles because I was cooking for my kid who doesn't like either.

Needed way more oil

Delicious! I skipped the Chinese sherry because...who has Chinese sherry? Also, I blanched the green beans first, and probably overdid it by about 30 seconds. But the recipe was excellent despite my error. Served with rice. Yum.

I really press and dry out my tofu for a chewier texture, so the tofu needs a lot more oil when you’re frying. Otherwise they stick to the pan and break up