Beef and Tofu Lo Mein

I was in a hurry to make something quick for dinner the other day so I just whipped up this Beef and Tofu Lo Mein for the whole family. It didn’t take a long time to cook and only needed a few ingredients. In my rush to cook dinner I made a mistake with the tofu.

I absentmindedly sauteed the beef strips, onions, and garlic without frying the tofu cubes first. This made stirring the tofu a little difficult than I would’ve wanted. See, when stir-frying tofu, you must cook it before mixing it in with the rest of the ingredients. Unless you’re making soup. Boiling tofu with the broth is fine but adding raw tofu on stir-fries is a little tricky.

So one adjustment I’d suggest if you make this dish is to fry up the tofu slices before adding it in with the rest of the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS :

spaghetti noodles. boiled al dente

• beef, sliced in strips
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• tofu (firm), cubed
• 3 tbsp of soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• sliced napa cabbage
• some of the pasta water
• vegetable oil for sauteing

Boil the spaghetti noodles.

Preheat oil in a wok, or pan. Fry up the tofu cubes until slightly brown and firm. Set them aside.

Saute onions and garlic. Then add the strips of beef. Once the beef is cooked, add the spaghetti noodles. Ladle some (2 scoops) of the pasta water into the stir-fry. Stir everything. Cover and let that cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Season with soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Dump in the cooked tofu. Stir everything together. Add the sliced napa cabbage on top. Cover the wok/pan. Cook for about 2 minutes. You want teh napa cabbage cooked but retain it’s crunchy texture.

Uncover, stir for a bit and done.

If I remembered to fry up the tofu first, this would’ve looked so much better. And I never would’ve have to worry about breaking them up into small pieces. The Lo Mein tasted good nonetheless. Next time I’ll just have to remember fry the tofu first .