How can you not love a recipe that uses Old Lady Juice (a.k.a. dry sherry)?

A few weeks ago, I was kicking around the kitchen looking for stir-fry sauce inspiration.  I’d had black bean sauce on some shrimp a few nights ago and didn’t want to make the same thing again.  I also wanted to justify having bought yet another jar of sauce to clog up my fridge.  Out of those silly origins came this dish.

I would have been happy if it had just used up what I had laying around (a couple of forgotten carrots, half a bunch of green beans) but it also tasted awesome. So I was hooked, and bought ANOTHER jar of hoisin sauce at the supermarket last week, bringing the count of hoisin sauce jars in my house to two and thereby undoing my good work.  But I just can’t help myself!  There are worse things to hoard than the makings of great Chinese meals.  (I know this.  I hoard fabrics, as you saw yesterday).

Now, I know it’s not the prettiest-looking dish, but don’t judge until you taste!  And anyway, you can always serve this by candlelight.

To get your cook on, hunt and gather:

• 1 lb. tofu, cubed and pressed of liquid (I like to freeze mine, then defrost and cube; it holds together better and seems to absorb more flavor that way)
• 2-3 medium onions, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic (or as much as you want–I use about eight, garlic fiend I am), minced or bashed in a mortar and pestle
• 2-3 carrots, sliced into coins
• 3 cups green beans (I say cups because that’s how much I had once I chopped them into 1 1/2 inch pieces; use however much you want)
• 2 Tbsp. oil (vegetable, canola, coconut will work fine)
• 6 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 1-2 tsp. Chinese chili garlic paste (to taste)
• Splash soy sauce
• Splash sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• Brown rice-for serving

Now fire up the wok:

• Get your brown rice going.
• Once the rice is going, heat your wok over medium heat.  When it’s good and hot, add a tablespoon of oil, swirl to coat the pan, then add in the tofu, stirring occasionally to prevent from sticking.  Keep at this for about 10 minutes, adding half the garlic after about five minutes of sauteeing.  This will dry the tofu and give it that nice, chewy texture and garlicky flavor.
• While that’s going, combine the hoisin sauce, chili paste, sherry, black pepper, splashes of soy sauce and sesame oil, and half cup of water in a bowl. Set it aside. In a separate little bowl (or measuring cup), whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of water and the cornstarch.  Set that aside too.
• Once the tofu is nice and browned, remove it from the wok and put it aside.  Now heat the remaining tablespoon of oil, swirl to coat the pan, and add in the vegetables.  You can crank the heat to medium-high so that the veggies stick to the wok a little, which helps the flavor of this dish.  After about five minutes, add the remaining garlic and saute for a few minutes more.
• Add the tofu to the wok, tossing it all together.  Now whisk the cornstarch-water mix, add it to the rest of the sauce mix, whisk again, and add it to the hot wok, stirring to coat the vegetables and tofu.  Turn the heat to medium and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens, at which point you can turn it off and cover until the rice is ready.

When the rice is ready… Well, you know what to do, because you’ll be salivating and your stomach will be growling.  Munch away, peeps!