Would it shock you if I told you that my husband Nick requested this as a meal after a week traveling for work? I was. He loves Asian flavors but a meatless meal? Needless to say I was happy to oblige. And although we did end up simply ordering pizza the first night back, we did make this the following night!

What I like about it is the simplicity of the ingredients and one pan. And while I usually opt to bake or airfry my tofu rather than getting the kitchen messy with oil frying it, it is simpler and requires less dish cleaning to do it all in one pan. Pan fried tofu does taste slightly better as well due to the fact that you are adding oil to it rather than the dryer baked version. 

Anywho, for this particular stir fry you do need to work in batches. You fry the eggplant – set aside. You fry the tofu – set aside. Then you cook the bell pepper, green onions, and garlic before mixing it all back in together. I just keep an extra large bowl off to the side to dump each ingredient while you work your way through the batches. 

My only regret making this last week was that I completely forgot to set some eggplant aside to share with Koa before dousing it in the deliciously salty sauce. I don’t think his little palate is ready for sambal oelek and rice vinegar yet but we are trying to continuously introduce new foods to him and eggplant hasn’t made the cut yet. Nick is traveling again next week so perhaps he will crave this when he gets again as well… Shocker.

INGREDIENTS

Serve with: 2 cups cooked rice, fresh cilantro, green onions, sesame seeds

Serving Size: 4-6

INSTRUCTIONS

• Press the tofu in a clean hand towel for 30 mins+ to drain excess liquid. Then cube the tofu into 1-inch squares and toss with potato starch. 
• Meanwhile, cube the eggplant into 1-inch squares and finely dice the bell pepper, green onions, and garlic.
• In a jar or mixing bowl, whisk together all the sauce ingredients: soy sauce, vegetable broth, sesame oil, rive vinegar, sambal oelek, sugar, and potato starch. 
• In a large stir fry pan, heat a dash of olive oil until hot. Fry the tofu for 3-4 minutes until golden brown then remove from the pan. May need to do in batches depending on the pan size. 
• Heat another dash of oil and add cubed eggplant into the pan. Fry for 5-6 minutes until golden brown the remove from the pan. Again, do in batches if needed to not overcrowd the pan. 
• Lastly, add another dash of oil to the pan and cook up the bell pepper, green onions, garlic and ginger until fragrant (approx. 2-3 minutes).
• Add the fried tofu and eggplant back into the pan. 
• Pour the sauce over everything and gently stir for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens. 
• Remove from heat and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. 
• Serve with rice and more fresh green onions and cilantro. Enjoy!