Recipe For Mir’s Special: Green Beans and Tofu Stir Fry

This recipe is really about 4 main ingredients: green beans, tofu, basil and garlic. The dish is infused with the flavor of black bean and chili garlic sauce and soy sauce. Tofu is like a sponge so it really absorbs the flavor and color of the fermented black bean and chili. It’s a simple hearty dish recipe that satisfy every palate in my home. Even the meat lovers like it!

The dish is named after my father-in-law, Mir. I call him Daddy. He went to a Chinese Restaurant for a dinner meeting once and they serve this as an appetizer, kinda like a chips and salsa in a Mexican restaurant. It was much saltier and spicier than the recipe I’ve provided below. Anyways, he liked it so much he asked the waiter to bring him a whole plateful so he could have it for dinner. And thus Mir’s Special was born.

1. Info for Mir’s Special: Green Beans and Tofu Stir Fry

• Cook Time: unavailable
• Total Time: unavailable
• Servings: 8
• Calories: unavailable

2. Ingredients for Mir’s Special: Green Beans and Tofu Stir Fry

• 1 piece tofu
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbs black bean garlic sauce
• 4 Tbs peanut oil
• 2 Tbs chili garlic sauce
• 6 oz green beans
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 small onion, cut in small wedges
• 1/4 cup Thai basil, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbs butter

3. Directions:

1. Quarter 2 cloves of garlic and finely mince the rest.
2. Wash and remove the ends of the beans. Cut the beans into 1/2 inch long pieces. 
3. Cut the piece of tofu into 1/2 inch slices. Pour the oil in a big pan and add the quartered cloves of garlic and cook until golden. Remove the garlic from the pan and set aside in a plate. The reason for cooking the garlic first is to provide a nice aroma to the oil. Pan fry the slices until slightly golden. Don’t overcook the pieces or they’ll start to get hard. The tofu should still be moist to be able to absorb the soy sauce later. Transfer all the tofu to a paper towel and let it cool down.
4. Cut the pieces of tofu into cubes. Set aside on a plate.
5. In the same pan, add the minced cloves of garlic and cook until golden. Bring the heat to the highest setting, add the chopped green beans and stir for about 3-4 minutes until the color changes and becomes transluscent. Add salt. Transfer all the beans to a plate. Set aside.
6. Bring the tofu back into the pan, add the black bean garlic sauce, the chili garlic sauce, the sugar and the soy sauce. Stir constantly until all the soy sauce is absorb by the tofu. Add the cooked green beans, the quartered garlic and the wedges of onion. Cook for another 2 minutes then turn off the heat. Add the butter and chopped basil. Keep on the stove for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter.
7. Serve immediately.