Date Cooked: January 27. 2026
I KNOW! You saw “tofu” in the title and thought “By all that is holy, not tofu!” Well, to channel Emperor Ming from Flash Gordon fame: “Puny humans! Enough with your whining and pointless entreaties! You cannot stop me. Pay heed to the deliciousness and power of tofu!” When Carla said “Tofu? Really?” I said – well I didn’t channel Emperor Ming because I’ve been married 49 years and 8 months and I’d really like to make it to 50 years. But, I made the tofu anyway.
The only thing wrong with tofu is the flavor and texture. Flavorless and mushy texture may have you thinking there isn’t any reason to cook tofu; but it’s all about the preparation. Tofu is a great blank – and healthy – canvas for the cook. This recipe (like all my tofu recipes) corrects tofu’s two problems.
Somehow Nisha Vora’s recipe came up in my YouTube feed; or maybe it was on the NY Times Cooking page. When Nisha tells us this is the tofu recipe she makes to change the minds of people who say they hate tofu, I knew I’d have to try it. What really tickled me is that she made this for her tofu-hating parents and her dad was going on and on about his crush The Pioneer Woman – another online cook and lifestyle person. Nisha’s mom was getting cross telling him not to mention her on his own daughter’s channel. You can watch Nisha make this for her parents here. And you can find the recipe on her Rainbow Plant Life site. Let’s get into it.
I made it and I liked it. And Carla liked it too (but probably not as much as I did).
We start with a small but flavorful group of ingredients. Garlic and ginger are classics!
Nisha has a new (to me) preparing tofu with a crispy exterior and creamy interior. She cuts it into thin squares instead of small cubes. Brilliant! The tofu needs a bit of work to dry and prep. We start with a block of extra firm tofu.
After pressing between paper towels under some heavy cans or books to squeeze out moisture, we cut through it lengthwise, then turn and cut thinnish squares.
Instead of grating the ginger I chopped and chopped. I think grating or running through a small food processor would work.
The bell pepper gets julienned.
If you are a regular follower of my blog you know I get most everything ready before cooking. I’m just that kind of person. I don’t like running around chopping the next set of ingredients while the previous set is busy sautéing or otherwise cooking. When it comes to stir-frying (and this is stir-frying adjacent) it is necessary to have things ready to go because it comes together pretty quickly.
I got out my largest non-stick skillet heated some oil and sautéd the tofu slices. A nice thing about frying the slices is you only have to brown 2 sides; not 6 as you do with cubes.
I think I cooked the tofu just a bit too much; but it was still delicious. When they were done, they rest on some paper towels which soaks up the extra oil.
I know you won’t believe me; but the tofu bits were delicious at this step: hot and a bit salty. For the next step we use a Tablespoon of chile crisp oil to sauté the scallions, ginger, garlic and bell pepper slices. That’s new to me and I love it. The chile crisp oil gives the dish a little heat.
Then pour in the braising liquid and simmer. Nisha says simmer for 5 minutes; that is way too long; had I waited for 5 minutes I wouldn’t have had any liquid left. After that simmer add a slurry of ½ cup water and cornstarch and combine for just less than a minute.
After the slurry, the instructions are to add the tofu back in and simmer for 10 more minutes. Nope; once again way too long. Simmer that long and I wouldn’t have any liquid left. Here is a picture after the tofu was in for just 1 minute.
There was enough sauce to coat the tofu; but not much left over.
Dinner is served. My scallion toppings are not near as decorative as Nisha’s.
Calling this a “braise” is a stretch. In my mind a braise is a slow cook of tough meat in liquid. Tofu is not tough; neither are the vegetables. I don’t have a better word so I’ll just let it go. And the recipe says it feeds four. Carla and I ate it all up. Nisha is tiny; so it may feed four of her.
I sound a little harsh on Nisha; I don’t mean to be; this is an excellent dish – I’m giving it 4 stars – and I’ve subscribed to her channel. My issues may have to do with heat or the brands I used. The main point is the tofu is crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside: excellent. Check out these posts and you’ll see I’ve tried a lot of ways to get the right mix of crispy and creamy. This is my new way. And the sauce was wonderful. I think next time I’ll double the sauce.
This dish is good enough for 4 stars, which means good enough to feed friends. But none of my friends will eat tofu; while this dish is good enough for company it’s unlikely I will cook it for company
Rating: ★★★★ 4 Stars
