Tofu and Green Beans With Chile Crisp

By Sam Sifton

Updated February 10, 2021

  • Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Chris Lanier. Prop Stylist: Carla Gonzalez-Hart.
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Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(6,915)
Comments
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I love to cook with chile crisp, a fiery hot-pepper condiment born in the Sichuan Province of China that generally relies on fried shallots and garlic for texture, and on any number of umami-rich special ingredients for distinction and oomph. It’s magical: a boon to noodle soups and kitchen-sink stir-fries, to eggs and cucumbers, to plain steamed fish. Here, I use it as the base of a marinade and topping for baked tofu and green beans, with black vinegar, a little sesame oil, a wisp of honey, minced garlic and ginger, along with scallions and cilantro. But you could use the mixture on a mitten and have a very nice meal.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 3 tablespoons chile-crisp condiment, plus more for serving

  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 1 ½ tablespoons Chinese black vinegar

  • 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil

  • 1 teaspoon honey

  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

  • 2 tablespoons chopped scallions

  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

  • 1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and sliced crosswise into 8 (½-inch-thick) slabs

  • ¾ pound green beans

  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed

  • White rice, for serving

  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

32 grams carbs; 257 calories; 4 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 10 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 678 milligrams sodium; 13 grams protein; 5 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a baking dish or casserole, whisk together the chile crisp, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, scallions and cilantro.

  2. Step 2

    Add the tofu slices to the dish, and coat them with the sauce, then allow to marinate for as long as it takes to heat the oven and trim the green beans.

  3. Step 3

    Add the green beans to a large sheet pan, then drizzle the neutral oil on top and toss to coat. Slide the green beans to the sides of the pan, and arrange the slices of tofu in an even layer in the center of the pan. Pour remaining marinade over the tofu, and place in oven.

  4. Step 4

    Roast until the green beans start to blister, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately with rice and extra chile crisp on the side.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
6,915 user ratings
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Comments

SLCatherine

“Best tofu I’ve ever had!” declared hubby, and I agree: it’s perfection! Instead of fussing with towels and plates and weights to drain the tofu, I took another reader’s tip (from a Japanese cooking show) and microwaved the sliced tofu in a bowl for three minutes on high. Amazing how much water drained out, leaving the tofu with perfect texture to soak up the delicious marinade.

Randy

I've been using jars and jars of Trader Joe's "Chili Onion Crunch" that I now realize is a knockoff of the chile-crisp described here. There's nothing better on eggs, tofu, shrimp, rice....

Leslie

Bon Appetit has a great recipe for chile crisp, you can make it at home yourself without any special equipment and it's not behind a paywall. It takes around 30 minutes to make and lasts for months.

Reagan

Too much chili crisp. Neede 3 tsp not Tbs. Also green beans at 22 mins were like green bean husks. Overall very disappointing.

Cameron

If you want less spice, the recipe works great with the chili crisp reduced to 1.5-2 tsp!

marie

@Cameron agree. Worked well. Thank you for the suggestion

emily

@Anne Marie this is the comment I've been looking for -- out of curiosity, would you say the bite is mild enough for a 4 year old? my son loves tofu and I would be thrilled to be able to make this easy meal for our family, but his spice tolerance is about at the mild-med salsa level

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