Celery with Tofu and Peanuts Stir Fry {芹菜炒香干}

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Celery with Tofu and Peanuts Stir Fry is a traditional home cooking in China. More so in the Yangtze River Delta area. It features refreshing, semi-crunchy celery and spiced tofu. We cut both celery and tofu into thin slices for this Stir-Fry. Red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces, adds the contrast of color, flavor, and texture. Last but not least, boiled peanuts with spices are a highlight of this naturally tasty vegetarian dish.

Extremely low calories and low sodium dish, perfect for clean eating and weight loss.

What do you need to make Celery with Tofu and Peanuts Stir Fry?

For Celery, I recommend Chinese celery if available. Chinese celery looks similar to the regular celery. However, they are much tender with less herbal smell. We typically eat the leaves together with the stems.

Red Bell Pepper adds a little contrast color, flavor and texture. You only need half of it.

Spiced and pressed Tofu, or “Xiang Gan” in Chinese. “Xiang” means fragrant, “Gan” means dry. They are one of the popular tofu products.

Cooking Oil and Salt – For cooking oil, avocado oil and canola oil are my primary day-to-day oils. Himalayan Pink Salt is my go to salt other than sea salt.

White Pepper plays a special role in Chinese cooking. It adds the unique flavor to the dish. No doubt it is behind the iconic flavor of the popular Chinese Egg Drop Soup and Hot and Sour Soup.

Arrowroot Flour is my go to superfood starch. It helps with the velveting look of the stir fry.

Boiled Spiced Peanuts is the highlight of the dish. It provides just the little extra firm bite and additional satisfactory flavor. Read here to learn how to make this classic Huai Yang style side dish and snack.

How to make Celery with Tofu and Peanuts Stir Fry {Qin Cai Chao Xiang Gan 芹菜炒香干}?

See the Recipe for a detailed guided tutorial. Here are the key takeaways:

Prep Boiled Peanut, celery and tofu slices and red bell pepper, and stir fry sauce

Wash and rinse celery, red bell pepper and tofu thoroughly. Cut celery and tofu in thin slices. For celery, it is helpful if you do so in both directions vertical and horizontal to get the thinner slices.

Add the arrowroot flour and about 2 tbsp water into a small bowl, add 1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper and mix well.

Make the Boiled Peanuts with Spices in advance.

Blanch celery and tofu

Fill a 8 Qt. stockpot with about 75% water, turn the heat to medium-high, cover with a lid and bring it to a boil.

Once the water reaches boiling, first add celery into the boiling water. Stir and mix the celery well with the boiling water and then immediately remove them from the pot using a spider skimmer. Set it aside.

Cover the pot with a lid and wait for it to resume boiling point. Then add the tofu slices into the boiling water, add the lid and wait for it to resume boiling point. About 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove tofu from the pot using the spider skimmer. Set it aside.

Stir Fry Celery with Tofu, Red Bell Pepper and Peanuts

Turn the heat to medium-high, heat a Wok for 2 minutes. Add 1 tsp canola oil using a homemade oil sprayer. Add celery and tofu thin slices, quickly turn and stir for about 15 seconds.

Then add the chopped red bell pepper and continue to turn and stir for another 15 seconds. Sprinkle Himalayan pink salt using a salt grinder, fold and mix with celery, tofu, and red bell pepper.

Quickly mix the stir fry sauce in case the arrowroot flour has settled to the bottom and then pour into the Wok. Immediately fold and mix using a slotted turner. Add the peanuts and continue to mix and fold for about 15 seconds.

All done! Enjoy a naturally delicious and nutritious vegetarian dish.