One Pot Spicy Tofu Stew

Healthy, easy and all in one pot

One Pot Spicy Tofu Stew

Hello folks! How was everyone’s weekend? I sure hope you had a good one whatever it is you got up to.

As for me, I had my first encounter with hill sprints. It is part of my training plan for the Berlin Marathon in September this year. Man, was it tough. You essentially have to sprint up a hill 4 times. This is done after you have just completed a 45 minute run. At the end of the first sprint I felt ready to roll down the hill and stay down.

Since I need to incorporate more protein into my diet with all this running, I decided that for Meatless Monday I am going to make a protein packed stew. This recipe was inspired by a Korean dish – soondubu jjigae, that is, soft tofu stew. The traditional stew uses dried anchovies and kelp to make a stock and the stew commonly has meat or seafood in it as well as the addition of fish sauce. Since all of those ingredients are not viable options for a meat free Monday dish, I had to get creative. I was also lazy to wash too many pots so I made this into a one pot stew.

The stock for this stew is made using onion, garlic and carrots. I then added 2 tablespoons of Korean red pepper paste for a spicy punch. That is where the redness from the stew comes from. As you may already know, I like cooking big portions of my Meatless Monday meals and basically eat the same dish for lunch and dinner. This dish is perfect for that as stews always taste better reheated anyway. An added bonus is that since it is packed with protein, it keeps you fuller for longer! Now, isn’t that just fantastic?

Recipe for One Pot Spicy Tofu Stew

Prep Time: 15 minutes / Cooking Time 30 minutes / Serves 4

Ingredients

2 packs of Soft Tofu

4 Eggs (1 egg per serving)

2 Carrots (peeled and roughly chopped)

½ Onion (peeled and quartered)

5 cloves Garlic (peeled)

½ Broccoli (chopped)

5 Chestnut Mushrooms (chopped)

1 Tbsp Salt

2 Tbsp Korean Red Pepper Paste (Note: Use 1 Tbsp if you want the stew to be less spicy)

800ml Water

2 stalks Scallions (chopped)

1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds (toasted)

1 Tbsp Sesame Oil

Tofu, Eggs and Korean red pepper paste

Method

1. Pour the water into a deep pot over medium-high heat. Once the water starts to boil, add in onion, garlic and carrots. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

2. After 15 minutes, add in the broccoli, mushrooms, tofu, Korean red pepper paste and salt. Simmer for a further 10-15 minutes.

3. Whilst the stew is simmering, toast the sesame seeds in a small pan until slightly browned.

4. Just before switching off the heat, add the sesame seeds, sesame oil and scallions. Crack in the eggs, remove from heat and serve. Ideally eaten with rice or if you are watching your carbohydrate intake, it is also good eaten as it is.