How has your winter been so far? New Year has turned Missouri into a chilly and a windy state, limiting me to indoors most of the time. Still I love it, as being a food blogger I get to focus more on my work and makes me say… “Ya baby, winter is nice!”. But it’s the weekend snowstorms and freezing rains which make me say “Grrrr, I hate this…”.

So coming to my recipe of the day, here I am with a dish perfectly suited to warm you up, and is vegetarian with Tofu as the hero… a simple Fried Rice. This year as part of my “Blogging Resolution”, I plan to bring you a lot of healthy recipes. In the first year of my blog I was so excited to add all my favorites without worrying about the calories, but now it’s time to get healthy and of course in a delicious way. Ahaa…!

This is my first Tofu recipe as it is not popular in my hometown, and a similar substitute we are often used too is Paneer (cottage cheese). It was after moving to the US and visiting restaurants with my vegetarian friends/relatives did I get to taste Tofu. Hope that gives you a picture of my non-veg cravings, hehe! I personally never order vegetarian food outside, but the mouth watery vegetarian dishes on my friends plates make me dig into it. May be a good reason to hang out more with veggie friends and stay healthy (wink)!

For this recipe, you can use all types of vegetables along with paneer or even meat. Other than Tofu, Edamame is another healthy ingredient I have added and is my first. What I love about preparing a fried rice dish is the ease of cooking, and the best option to make use of all your leftover veggies/meat in your pantry, including the rice.

With any fried rice recipe, it is a known fact that a day old cooked rice works the best. Freshly cooked rice contains moisture which doesn’t help in roasting it properly. But when sat in a refrigerator overnight, there is no moisture left in it and the rice stays separated, which is perfect for stir frying.

Tofu is a healthy way to include a protein to your rice and veggies. But the tricky part in making a delicious tofu fried rice is draining the tofu completely of water, which otherwise will not allow the marinade to mix well and would taste bland.

Check out my Notes section for additional Tofu & Rice cooking tips.

Enjoy…!!!!

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Tofu Fried Rice

Healthy n Yummy restaurant style Tofu Fried Rice…! Loaded with Edamame, Carrots, Bell Peppers, and Onions... Substitute Tofu with Paneer or a Protein of your choice and this recipe still delivers a Simply Delicious Treat…!!!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword asian, fried rice, tofu fried rice

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author Akhila

Ingredients

Sauce for Tofu

• 12 oz extra firm tofu (drained and pressed for at least 20 minutes)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp oil
• a pinch of salt

For Fried Rice

• 1 cup cooked rice (I have used basmati rice)
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp oil (for rice)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1/2 cup carrots (chopped)
• 1/2 cup red and green bell peppers (chopped)
• 1/2 cup edamame
• 1/2 of yellow onion (sliced)
• 1/2 cup spring onions (chopped)
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 2 tsp sriracha sauce
• 2 tbsp oil (add more if necessary)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• salt (as required)

Instructions

• Wash rice in cold water thrice. Drain and soak in cold water for 30 minutes.
• Cook the rice, add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil while cooking. Once done, keep aside. Refer notes for additional rice cooking pointers.
• Prepare the sauce for the rice by whisking soya sauce, sriracha sauce, brown sugar, pinch of salt in a small bowl. Keep aside.
• Drain, dry, and cook the tofu. Refer notes for detailed instructions.
• Prepare the tofu marinade by mixing soya sauce, sriracha sauce, garlic, brown sugar, oil and a pinch of salt, in a small bowl. Whisk it well. Pour it onto the cubed tofu and marinate, allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Be careful not to crumble the tofu while marinating.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan/wok, pan fry tofu on a medium flame till its sides start turning brown, 2 minutes on each side should do. Remove the fried tofu from the pan and keep aside.
• To the same pan, add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant. Add salt and the remaining vegetables; carrots, bell peppers, edamame, onions, a handful of spring onions (reserve some to garnish later), and saute on a medium flame. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables turn tender. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same pan and stir fry the cooked rice for 4 minutes on a medium flame. Add the prepared sauce for the rice and stir to mix well. Add the cooked tofu and vegetables, and toss to mix with the rice. Place the lid and cook for a minute.
• Garnish with spring onions.
• Serve hot with a sauce of your choice (I prefer Sriracha sauce).

Notes

1. You can use this recipe to substitute tofu with paneer, meat, vegetables, or any protein of your choice.

Preparing Fried Rice

1. Texture of the cooked rice is very important in making a good fried rice dish. Rice cooked a day ago works the best as it would be dry which is crucial. But if you couldn’t plan in advance, make sure to completely cool the cooked rice by spreading on a plate, before preparing the fried rice.
2. You can use any long or medium grain white rice like basmati, jasmine or brown rice.
3. Make sure your pan is really hot before stir frying rice.

Preparation of Tofu

1. When shopping for tofu, look for extra firm one. Extra firm tofu works well.
2. Drain the tofu completely of water before cooking. You can place it between paper towels and keep pressed with a weight on top, this will release the water. Repeat as many times till it is dry.
3. Cut tofu into cubes.
4. Cook the tofu when the pan is really hot.

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