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Tofu and Spinach in Black Bean Garlic Sauce

Posting Date: 03/09/20

Tofu and Spinach in Black Bean Garlic Sauce is so delicious that it could change tofu haters to become tofu lovers. The black bean garlic sauce makes the tofu very flavorful. Since the tofu is first coated with cornstarch and fried before being mixed with the black bean sauce, the tofu becomes crispy. These 2 factors (flavorful and crispy tofu) are the reason why tofu haters love this dish.

Growing up, my mom used to make an easy spinach dish. The spinach was sauteed with garlic, shallot, and red pepper and once the spinach was wilted, a little bit of soy sauce and water were added. She then served it as a side dish with other dishes and rice. I was thinking about this dish one day but I didn't want to make other dishes to accompany the spinach because I didn't have time. I wanted to make just 1 dish that didn't need any other dishes to complete it. So, i decided to modify her recipe and add tofu as the source of protein since I loved tofu and wanted a vegetarian dish. To make the tofu flavorful, I decided to add black bean, garlic, and ginger as the sauce. Since I wanted to serve the dish to people who didn't like tofu, I decided to fry the tofu first so that it had some crispy texture. That's the reason why I coated it with cornstarch before frying. The dish was a hit to the tofu haters because it solved the 2 problems with tofu (lack of flavor and strange texture).

To maintain the crispiness of the tofu, make sure you have the sauce mixed and ready prior to sauteeing the garlic, shallot, and black bean. In addition, make sure your pan is hot before adding the fried tofu and the sauce because when the pan is hot, it will thicken the sauce right away and thus, the liquid doesn't have too much time to soften the tofu. However, you don't want the sauce to be too thick and that's the reason why the pan is removed from the heat as soon as the sauce has been added into the pan. The spinach is added after the pan is removed from the heat so that it doesn't wilt too much since some people may not like wilted spinach. Serve the dish right away so that the tofu doesn't lose its crispiness.

The recipe serves 2 people.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz firm tofu, rinsed with water, patted dry with paper towel, and diced into 1/2" cubes
2/3 cup cornstarch
For frying tofu: vegetable oil
For the sauce: 2 tablespoons soy sauce or to taste
For the sauce: 2 tablespoons water
For the sauce: 4 teaspoons sugar or to taste
For the sauce: 1.5 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon black bean sauce. I use Lee Kum Kee brand called Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce. You can use any other brands and it can be just Black Bean Sauce (without garlic).
1 small size of shallot, sliced. If you can't find shallot, you can use quarter of small size white onion.
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 red bell pepper, diced
pinch of black pepper
4 cups of fresh spinach

Methods:

Place cornstarch on a plate. Coat tofu with cornstarch.
Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan. Make sure you pour enough vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium high heat.
Once the oil is hot, shake excess cornstarch from the tofu and fry tofu in batches since we don't want to overcrowd the frying pan causing the tofu to be greasy and soggy. Fry the tofu until all sides are golden brown and crispy. Using slotted spoon, remove and place it on a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat this step until all tofu has been fried.
While frying the tofu, put all the sauce ingredients into a small bowl. Whisk to mix it.
Before starting this step, make sure you already have the sauce ingredients mixed in a small bowl. Pour 1 tablespoon vegetable oil on a pan. Heat the pan over medium high heat. Add shallot, black bean sauce, garlic, and ginger into the pan. Saute until shallot becomes soft. Add red bell pepper and stir to coat it with black bean. Cook the bell pepper for 1 min. Add tofu and pinch of black pepper. Stir to coat tofu with black bean. Whisk the sauce before pouring it into the pan. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir to coat tofu evenly with the sauce. Add spinach. Stir so that the spinach is slightly wilted and coated with the sauce.
Serve it immediately with warm rice.

Notes:

To maintain the crispiness of the tofu, make sure you have the sauce mixed and ready prior to sauteeing the garlic, shallot, and black bean.
Make sure the pan is hot before adding the fried tofu and the sauce because when the pan is hot, it will thicken the sauce right away and thus, the liquid doesn't have too much time to soften the tofu. However, you don't want the sauce to be too thick and that's the reason why the pan is removed from the heat as soon as the sauce has been added into the pan.

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