Garlic, shallot, lemongrass - along with tofu and few vegetables

The tofu and vegetables are here to support the fair amount of garlic, shallot, and lemongrass. The chili peppers make it interestingly hot in mouth. More on that in the article.

Serves: 3

Preparation: 40 minutes (peeling and chopping is long)

Cooking: 25 minutes

The cooked dish, served in a light pink bowl (color doesn’t matter much) - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This recipe was supposed to delight two, or more people. It turned out to be a selfish pleasure — though not for the reason you imagine! I was invited to a gathering to celebrate a big birthday milestone of the oldest living person in my family in law. The plan was to meet with the elder in small groups throughout the day, then to reconvene all around a barbecue for dinner in the courtyard. I was suggested to plan something for two of us — a flexitarian and myself, the only vegan.

Instead of bringing my homemade vegan patties to throw on the barbecue, I chose to cook a Thai-inspired dish with tofu and vegetables, powered by some garlic, lemongrass, and chili pepper. It turned out to be the opposite. As I finished cooking, and tasted my creation, I ran to my wife who confirmed my fear: it was too spicy, and hot beyond the point of serving this to anybody unprepared. I return to the kitchen, and created another recipe, with a more approachable taste.

This article is about the first recipe. The one in which tofu and veggies seems to be second order citizens, after the garlic, shallot, lemongrass, and chili peppers. After reading this foreword, I consider you’re prepared. Be brave.

About bok choy / pak choi

Close-up on the Shanghai bok choy used in this recipe - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Bok Choy (or pak choi for British readers) is a type of Chinese cabbage. They have a distinctive shape, with a bulbous bottom instead of a head. They feature long, green leaves, which taste a bit like spinach (and water chesnut according to Wikipedia — I can’t confirm this). They exist in two forms: Chinese bok choy and Shanghai bok choy. The latter, which this recipe uses, has lighter green leaves, and jade stems. Depending where you live, you can find one, the other, or both. You can generally substitute one for the other, though Shanghai boy choy can become slimy if overcooked — be sure to add it last in your wok!

Ingredients

Ingredients for the recipe - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

• 400 g firm tofu¹

• 2 big carots ~ 300 g

• 1 Shanghai bok choy cabbage ~ 300 g

• 6 shallots ~ 290 g

• 1 garlic head ~ 70 g

• 5 lemongrass stalks — food processed lemongrass would work, too, though it won’t bring the same experience as biting into the thin lemongrass slices

• 4 fresh Thai red chili peppers

• 5 g black pepper

• 6 soup spoons of groundnut oil²

• 7 soup spoons of soy sauce³

Preparation

This recipe will require you wash, peel, chop, slice a lot of the ingredients — pretty much all of them, actually. This takes a while, so consider completing all the preparation steps before even heating your wok or deep pan.

1. Peel the shallots, cut them in half on the long edge, then slice them in their shorter width

2. Peel the garlic cloves, then slice them

3. Wash the lemongrass, remove te outer leave, cut both ends (the bulbs and the upper stalks), then slice as thin as possible

4. Peel the carots, cut them in 3-4 cm long sections, in thick short sticks

5. Cut the tofu into small cubes or rectangular cuboids (as I did, for a change)

6. Wash the Shanghai boy choy, cut where the green leaves start; slice both parts (green and white) and store separately

7. Crush the black pepper; it doesn’t have to be finely ground, it’s okay you still have coarse grains

Ingredients for the recipe, after preparation - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Cooking

I relied on my favorite stainless steel Dutch deep-sided skillet. Any non-stick wok or deep pan should work as well. I wouldn’t venture cooking this dish with a carbon steel wok, because a step requires to leave the ingredients covered and untouched for 5 minutes. Although you don’t have to act quickly, the timing won’t give you enough time to prepare the next ingredients to add. You need to complete all Preparation steps before proceeding with cooking ones.

1. Heat a deep pan or skillet to medium flame/power

2. Add 3 soup spoons of groundnut oil

3. Add the shallots and garlic; cook for 4 minutes

4. Add the lemongrass and chili peppers, stir

5. Add the carrots and tofu on top of the ingredients already present; do not stir, cover, and wait for 5 minutes

6. Increase to 75% of the maximum flame/power, remove the lid, and stir once

7. Add 6 soup spoons of soy sauce; stir regularly for 5 minutes

8. Add the black pepper, the white part of the Shanghai boy choy, 3 soup spoons of oil, and 1 soup spoon of soy sauce

9. Stir regularly for 5 minutes

10. Add the green leaves of the Shanghai boy choy; stir regularly for 2 minutes

11. Turn off the heat, and cover until you serve

Lemongrass and thai red chili peppers on top of cooked shallot and garlic slices (step 4) - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

You can serve this right away, just remember to let it covered between the moment you finish cooking and the time you serve it. As you’ve read in the beginning of this article, I didn’t bring it to the party. This helped me verify this re-heats nicely after being refrigerated, or even frozen.

The dish, once finished cooking, still in the deep pan - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Enjoy!

If you’ve tried the recipe, and would like to comment - whether you loved it, or hated it - please do so. I’m welcoming ideas, even if these are non-vegan recipes I’ll have the challenge to “veganize”.

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Here’s a tip before you go

Don’t throw your lemongrass outer skin leftovers! Put them in your toilets to add a light fragrance for few days. You can also add them to the rice you cook, to give it a light lemongrass flavor. Remove them after cooking.

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1. Be cautious: tofu is made of soy, which is a known allergen

2. Be cautious: groundnut is a know allergen

3. Be cautious: soy sauce is made of soy and wheat, which are known allergens