Monday, May 16, 2011

Tofu Fried Rice

fried rice for breakfast

On and off again, I make this for Saturday breakfast, well, brunch really, before noon practice, if I have a container of leftover rice from the week's veganly beans. I often do. I usually have onions, carrots, garlic, and ginger on hand, and I've been keeping corn and peas in takealong containers in the freezer for this. It's maybe a teeny bit heavy to eat before practice, but then I have leftover fried rice for my two work lunches and it's perfect for that.

This is also a really good bout day breakfast.

1 lb firm tofu
vegetable or peanut oil
1 onion
3 carrots
3-5 garlic cloves
a thumb sized piece of ginger
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
4 cups cooked rice

Dice the tofu and let it drain in a colander lined with paper towels.

Heat a good amount of oil, about 2-4 tablespoons, in a cast iron or other nonstick pan over medium high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the tofu in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Now the key is to leave it to brown.

So now dice the onion and carrots. When you've done that, the tofu should be browned enough that you can stir it up without sticking to the pan. Hopefully. Let it cook a few minutes more, then scoop the tofu out of the pan into a large bowl. Add the onion and carrots to the pan, and leave them.

Mince the garlic and ginger, and add them to the onion and carrots. Saute a few minutes until the aromatics are fragrant, then add the corn and peas. Saute until corn and peas are cooked, about five or ten more minutes, then scoop the vegetables into the bowl with the tofu.

Now heat another couple tablespoons of oil and when it shimmers, add the rice in a single layer. Leave that to brown for about five minutes, then stir it up. Add the tofu and vegetables back to the pan, stir it all together, and season to taste with salt and pepper.