Fermented Tofu!? It’s not as weird as it sounds. Especially when it comes to Chinese stir fried water spinach.
Stir-Fried green leaf vegetables are an essential part of the Chinese menu, whether back home in the US or here in China. These days, all kinds of Chinese vegetables are readily available in Asian markets scattered around American suburbs. A favorite, often served in restaurants, is water spinach. They’re hollow-stemmed vegetables, with different varieties that grow in water. The most common variety found in markets, however, are grown in regular soil.
The most common way to cook these green leafy vegetables is with oil, garlic and salt. But for a change of pace, another traditional way to cook these is with fermented tofu and stir fried water spinach is one of those dishes. Fermented tofu is a condiment, often compared to cheese, that’s made by fermenting soy bean curd. It has a great savory flavor. It’s actually not all that exotic when it really comes down to it, so don’t be afraid to try it! Find out more about it in our Chinese ingredients glossary.
You’ll need:
- 1 small bunch water spinach
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 to 4 thin slices of ginger, julienned
- 4 to 5 dried red chili peppers (optional)
- 1 to 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 squares of white fermented tofu – about ½ tablespoon
- Pinch of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of white pepper
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
Remove the larger, tough stems from these hollow stem water spinach vegetables. You can leave the thinner, tender stems.
Wash the vegetables thoroughly in water (a couple soaks and rinses should work) and transfer to a colander to let the excess water drain.
Prepare the other ingredients, so that they’re ready to go when you’re cooking.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat and add the ginger.
Stir for about 10 seconds and then add the dried chilies, garlic, fermented tofu, sugar, salt, and white pepper.
Stir fry the mixture, keeping the heat on high…
…And add the greens.
Stir-fry, moving the vegetables around the bottom of the wok so nothing burns. Use a folding motion, stir fry the mixture so all of the vegetables get seared evenly. After about a minute of this, move the vegetables into a mound in the middle of the wok. This technique is to allow the sides of the wok to reheat to get the “wok hay” flavor in there.
After about 30 seconds of high heat, add the wine around the perimeter of the wok and quickly spread your vegetable mound in a circular motion around the wok to get that searing “wok hay” effect for another 15-30 seconds.
Plate and serve your stir fried water spinach right away!
Stir Fried Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 bunch water spinach (about 10 ounces/300g)
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 to 4 thin slices ginger (julienned)
- 4 to 5 dried chili peppers (optional)
- 1 to 4 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 2 squares white fermented tofu (about ½ tablespoon)
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons shaoxing wine
Instructions
- Remove the larger, tough stems from the vegetables. You can leave the thinner, tender stems. Wash the vegetables thoroughly in water (a couple soaks and rinses should work) and transfer to a colander to let the excess water drain.
- Heat oil in a wok over high heat and add the ginger. Stir for about 10 seconds and then add the dried chilies, garlic, fermented tofu, sugar, salt, and white pepper.
- Stir fry the mixture, keeping the heat on high, and add the greens. Stir-fry, moving the vegetables around the bottom of the wok so nothing burns. Use a folding motion, stir fry the mixture so all of the vegetables get seared evenly. After about a minute of this, move the vegetables into a mound in the middle of the wok. This technique is to allow the sides of the wok to reheat to get the “wok hay” flavor in there.
- After about 30 seconds of high heat, add the wine around the perimeter of the wok and quickly spread your vegetable mound in a circular motion around the wok to get that searing “wok hay” effect for another 15-30 seconds.
- Plate and serve immediately.
nutrition facts
what can i use instead of water spinach? Will broccoli, asparagus, or regular spinach work?
Olivia, regular spinach is a good substitute.
I burnt the ginger and garlic. I’m thinking since I’m a not so advanced of a cook (I don’t have quick skills), it’s safer for me to start with more of a medium temperature when first adding the ginger and garlic. But also, with so much greens when they’re first added and not yet shrunken, it’s very tricky for me to move everything around — and hence me burning the ginger and garlic. The dish still turned out decent, but I’m sure could have been so much more! (I’m using a 14″ round wok and one pre-packed bag of greens, so I think my proportions are okay. In the end, the greens only take up a small amount of space in the wok.)
Any advice for me in more effectively moving the greens around when they’re first added? I can’t quite visualize the suggested folding motion. I’m picturing like a push of the greens from one side to the other, and then flipping what’s at the end, and repeating (kind of like mimicking a drying machine). I know in other greens recipes (I tried to read through them all!) you mention “scooping” the greens. Or perhaps your other suggestion of tongs may work best for me for now.
Hi Jason, so what you need to do is scoop from one side, lift, and fold. Keep doing it until you get all the vegetables wilted. As for the burning of the ginger and garlic, if you start with a super-hot wok, what you need to do is literally put the vegetables in the wok right after the ginger and garlic goes in and start scooping immediately to get the ginger and garlic off of the bottom of the wok.
Don’t be shy with the oil. Restaurants use a lot of oil, which is why the greens glisten brightly and are so tasty. Last tip: if you want the ginger and garlic taste to come out more in the dish, add them after the vegetables so they retain their flavor. Putting them in the oil infuses the oil with flavor, but crispy ginger and garlic have a less aromatic taste. Sorry for the long answer but hope that helps. Happy cooking!
Can I substitute red fermented bean curd for the white fermented bean curd?
Sure you can! Just know that the flavor will be slightly different, but it’ll be very good still.
Maybe I seem easy. I’m giving all your recipes 5 stars, but I love the flavor of this dish so much that this has become my go-to way to cook up Chinese vegetables. I couldn’t find water spinach so I made this with pea shoot greens and I’ve also used this with Gia Lan, one of my favorite Chinese vegetables. I tried this with 4 dried chilis like your recipe suggests, but couldn’t seem to taste the heat- maybe my peppers are old- so I swapped to a 1/4 teaspoon of red chili flakes.
This is my first time using fermented tofu. I’m eager to try your other dishes with this ingredient.
Hi J, glad you discovered your taste for white fermented bean curd. It adds great flavor, which is why Sarah adds it to her Asian vegetable stock. Keep up the great cooking!
Hi Bill,
I bought the red fermented bean curd for the spare ribs (really good!!) and I was wondering whether I could use that for this dish rather than buying yet another Chinese condiment. (The fridge is getting quite full of them!!) Would the taste be that different?
Thanks again for your hard work on the site. I use it at least weekly and many of the recipes are staples for our (non-Chinese) family. My extended family is turned onto olive vegetable and all of us are happily eating more green beans than ever!
The ads are getting a bit annoying however. They frequently cause a reload when I use Safari on my ipad. (They generally cause no problem on a laptop computer). I’d happily pay you a subscription fee to get rid of the ads! Can you look into how to make the ads less problematic?
Hi Rick, the red fermented bean curd is quite different in flavor from the white bean curd. Although the white bean curd is generally used for stir frying vegetables, you could try the red, and you may like it! I am used to the white bean cur, so I would probably find it strange at first, but after your question, I will give it a try again. (I have tried it before but decided I liked the white fermented bean curd better for veggies). As for the ads, we work with our ad provider constantly to balance and improve the ads on our site. Please do let us know if you have any specific issues.
Any chance this can be made without the fermented tofu? I don’t currently have on hand.
BTW, I love your site and all the recipes. It’s been invaluable in recreating dishes from my childhood that are so familiar. Learning from my mother is impossible since she doesn’t measure any of the ingredients out!
Thanks!
Sure you can, Ting, but it will not taste the same.
Hello again, any advice from anyone who made this recipe would be great. I just want to know how many pounds or ounces that might be for a small bunch. Thanks so much!
Hi Esther, Sorry for the delay in responding! A bunch of these green veegies is about 1 pound or less when it is unwashed. Sometimes green leaf veggies have more water content and are heavier. Hope that helps!
Hi Bill,
Thank you for the advice. The bunch I got from the Chinese supermarket looked really big, definitely way over a pound, a few pounds I would say. Also one more question, I saw 2 kinds of veggies, one said “water spinach-ong choy” and the other one just said “ong choy”. The stems on the water spinach bunch had very big hollow stems, but the other one had much thinner stems. Are they both the same? Do they taste different? Which one would you recommend? Thanks so much!
Hi Esther, There are actually two types of ong-choy, one that grows in water and one that grows on dry land. That said, I cannot tell the difference by looking at them at the market. Both taste the same and we cannot tell the difference, so my advice is to just ensure that you buy tender plants. The stems should snap easily when bent. If they just bend and are fibrous, then move on or be prepared that you may have to cut off most of the stem during preparation. Hope that helps!
Hi, how much is a small bunch of water spinach? I just bought a bunch but it is a huge bunch! Can you tell me how many pounds or ounces that might be please? Thank you.
One of my favorite vegetables and my favorite is cooked this way :)
Us too Maggie!
I LOVE this dish and can eat huge plates of it in one sitting. The fermented tofu really brings it all together, although I find that many of my Western friends find the taste rather offensive. That’s okay, though—more for me. Thanks for this recipe :)
hahaha I know! it’s a misunderstood condiment. When we make it for people and they don’t know what’s in it, they usually like it. But the more-for-me mentality is also a good way to go.