Stir-fried vegetables with peanut sauce

Ingredients for sauce (2 servings)

4 dates (dried fruit)

4 tbsp hot water

1 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp (5 ml) sesame oil

1 tsp sambal oelek (chilli paste)

1 tsp garlic (garlic powder)

5 grains of whole black pepper

Other ingredients.

1/2 cup cashew nuts

3 cups vegetables of your choice

(bell pepper, broccoli, red onion, bean sprouts etc)

50 g tofu (＋cornstarch/1tbsp oil )

Toppings/sides(Optional)

Fresh herbs

Sriracha sauce

Steamed Jasmine rice

STEP1

Blend the ingredients for sauce with using a hand blender.

STEP2

Roast cashew in a frying pan and transfer to a plate.

Fry tofu and also set aside.

The cornstarch is optional but in this case, the tofu was sprinkled with cornstarch first then fried until golden with some oil.Each side takes at least 3mins.

Don’t move tofu until one side gets crispy enough.

The key to crispy tofu is NOT to fry it with vegetables.

STEP3

In a frying pan, add about 3 cups of vegetables of your choice and steam fry them.

Cover it with a lid and let it steam for a few minutes.

STEP4

Toss the vegetables with the sauce above.

Finally, add the roasted nuts and the crispy tofu just before serving.

Garnish with fresh herbs ,drizzle some sriracha sauce.

Serve it with steamed Jasmine rice.

Note

Tofu (a protein-rich ingredient) sticks to the pan if you omit oil.

They cannot be stir-fried in water, but vegetables can be stir-fried without oil.

Nuts can be toasted without oil as they are rich in fat already.

Nuts and seeds smell very good when you toast them a bit before adding to any dish.