Vegetable & crispy tofu stir fry with satay sauce

About this recipe

A stir fry is more a technique than a fixed recipe — you pick the vegetables you have in the fridge, cut them to matching sizes, and sear them quickly on high heat so they stay crisp. The satay sauce, enriched with tahini and peanut butter, is creamy and rounded, and the tofu is baked separately so it stays crunchy all the way to the plate.

I recommend thick udon noodles because they hold the creamy sauce beautifully, but use whatever noodles you like.

Ingredients

For the crispy tofu

• 200 g firm tofu, drained and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 1 tbsp neutral oil (sunflower or peanut)
• 1 tbsp starch (cornflour or potato starch)

For the satay sauce

• ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ⅛ cup rice vinegar (or another mild vinegar)
• 1 tbsp honey — original: 1 tbsp honey / vegan: 1 tbsp date syrup (or agave, maple)
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 tsp sesame oil — optional
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed — optional
• 2 cm fresh ginger, grated — optional
• ½ tsp chilli flakes (or Sichuan chilli flakes) — optional
• 1 tsp miso paste — optional

For the vegetables (use what you have or like)

• 200 g mushrooms (any kind), quartered
• 1 large onion or 4 shallots, cut into quarters with layers separated
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 1 bell pepper (any colour), cut into strips
• ½ head broccoli (~250 g), broken into small florets
• ¼ white or Chinese cabbage, shredded — optional, needs longer cooking

What to avoid: potatoes, radishes, cucumber, tomatoes and watery vegetables don't work in a stir fry — you want vegetables that stay crisp and absorb the sauce, not release liquid.

To serve

• 400 g udon noodles (or soba, ramen, rice noodles)
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal — optional
• Sesame seeds — optional
• Fresh coriander — optional

Method

1. Bake the tofu (20 min)

Heat the oven to 220°C fan. Put the tofu cubes in a bowl, add a tablespoon of oil and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle over the tablespoon of starch and toss again — every cube should have a thin white coating on all sides.

Spread them on a baking tray lined with parchment, not touching. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and crisp on the outside. Set aside — they'll hold their crunch for 15-20 minutes at room temperature.

2. Make the satay sauce (5 min)

Put all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously with a small whisk or spoon until smooth — the tahini and peanut butter should melt completely into the liquid. Don't let it boil, just bring it to a warm, even consistency.

Taste and adjust: more vinegar for tang, more syrup for sweetness, more miso for depth, more chilli for heat. Pull off the heat.

3. Cook the noodles (per packet instructions)

Get a pan of water going for the noodles. Fresh udon needs only 2-3 minutes, dried takes 8-10. Drain and toss immediately with half the sauce to stop them sticking. Set aside in a large bowl.

4. Stir fry the vegetables (5-7 min)

Heat a large pan or wok over high heat with a tablespoon of oil. When it just begins to smoke, add the vegetables in this order, leaving 1-2 minutes between each:

1. Mushrooms — first, so they brown and release their water
2. Onions — separated quarters, to soften slightly
3. Carrots and pepper — to warm through but stay crisp
4. Broccoli last — only 2-3 minutes, to keep it bright green and crunchy
5. Cabbage (if using) — add it with the broccoli or 1-2 minutes earlier

Toss continuously or shake the wok often. You want vegetables seared, not stewed — minimum 5 minutes total, maximum 7. Pull off the heat immediately.

5. Plate up

Put a portion of saucy noodles in each bowl. Top with a generous portion of stir-fried vegetables and a few cubes of crispy tofu. Drizzle the rest of the satay sauce over to taste.

Garnish with spring onions, sesame seeds and fresh coriander.

Notes & tips

Why we plate up separately

If you toss the noodles, sauce, vegetables and tofu together in one pan, everything goes soft — the vegetables release water, the tofu loses its crunch, the sauce gets diluted. Plating separately keeps each element exactly as you cooked it: creamy saucy noodles, crisp vegetables, golden firm tofu.

Cutting the vegetables matters

On high heat with short cooking times, small uniform sizes are essential. Thick-cut carrots will stay raw in the middle; broccoli florets that are too large won't cook evenly. Rule of thumb: anything going into the wok should cook through in 2-3 minutes at high heat.

Pressing the tofu

Drier tofu = crispier tofu. Before cubing, wrap it in a few sheets of kitchen paper and put something heavy on top (a plate weighted with a tin) for 15 minutes. It releases excess water, and the starch coating sticks much better.

Alternative protein

You can swap the tofu for soy curls, rehydrated in hot water for 10 minutes, drained well and roasted the same way. They have a more shredded-meat texture and absorb the sauce beautifully.

The sauce keeps 3-4 days

If you make a double batch of sauce, it keeps in a jar 3-4 days in the fridge and is great over rice, roasted vegetables, or as a dressing for cold noodle salads.