Pomegranate Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry in the Sky

It took me a while to actually figure out how to put together a stir fry sauce, let alone a well executed, just-cooked stir fry.

My favorite stir fries include really fresh vegetables, so I tend to make then in the spring and summer. Lately, I’ve been so crushed by suspicious sauces at Asian restaurants, and craving a good, saucy tofu meal and happily decided to make my own. I literally used about every fresh vegetable in my house here.

Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry with cashews, purple kale, carrots and brown rice.

I like to use the following teriyaki sauce, adapted to what I’m feeling at the time:

Pomegranate (perhaps) Agave Teriyaki Sauce

(originally posted on May 5, 2007)

1/2 cup tamari (I use organic reduced sodium)
1/4 cup dark agave nectar
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil
2 tablespoons sherry
1 teaspoon pomegranate glaze or syrup (or try 1 tablespoon+ of pure fruit juice)
1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon+ of Srichi OR a good dash of crushed red pepper flakes

Sometimes I add hoisin sauce, vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce, tons of heat, fresh fruit juice, more sweetness – whatever I feel like/happen to throw in/have around.

For the stir fry above

• I first roasted the raw cashews at 375F for about 10 minutes
• Then I pan-fried the tofu quickly in peanut oil in my wok and removed it
• Quickly stir fried purple kale, garlic and shredded carrots in a touch of sesame oil and water for about 5 minutes over medium heat
• Added at least ¼ cup of teriyaki sauce, if not more, the tofu and the nuts – stir for about a minute more. (the remainder of the sauce went into the meal below)
  

· Serve over rice!

Thomas' stir fry used the new Trader Joe's Beefless strips. First I pan fried them with in a bit of sesame oil with garlic and a couple tablespoons of the teriyaki sauce for a few minutes, then I added the veggies, simmered about 15 minutes with the lid on, added 1/3 cup of sauce (he likes it saucy), cooked on medium a couple minutes more, and there ya go. These strips really needed the extra flavoring the sauce gives them, on their own they were blah.

Prep station:

The beefalicious stir fry

Juicy......beef
I don't think it's good enough for the price, $2.99, but I'm also not a big faux fan. Thomas on the other hand liked these much more than the Chicken-less strips we tried last night. Texture wise, they didn't creep me out, but they didn't do anything for me either.