Ginger-Scallion Tofu and Greens

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Published Sept. 5, 2024

Ginger-Scallion Tofu and Greens
Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(161)
Notes
Read community notes

A classic Chinese condiment, ginger-scallion oil is most commonly served with poached chicken but is incredibly versatile — and shines here, applied to cold silken tofu and blanched greens. Most Chinese families will have their own version of the aromatic oil, each with their own ideal ratio of ginger to scallions. There are no hard rules here, so feel free to adjust the amount of ginger and scallions to your preferences. Thinly slicing both will give you a robust sauce, but you may chop them until minced for a smoother sauce. This oil is a great one to make in bulk, as it keeps, refrigerated, up to one month, so you can add it to rice, roasted veggies, pan-fried tofu, cold noodles or eggs, invigorating your everyday cooking.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Salt
  • 4baby bok choy (about 12 ounces), each trimmed and quartered lengthwise
  • 4scallions, trimmed, white and green parts thinly sliced and separated
  • 2tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
  • 1tablespoon sesame oil
  • 2teaspoons rice vinegar
  • 1(2-inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about ¼ cup)
  • ¼cup neutral oil
  • 2(14- to 16-ounce) blocks silken tofu, cold
  • Toasted white or black sesame seeds, for serving
  • White rice (optional), to serve
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

355 calories; 27 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 22 grams protein; 808 milligrams sodium

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.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the baby bok choy and cook until the stems are just tender and the leaves are bright green, 1½ to 2 minutes. Rinse under cold water until thoroughly cooled, then drain well.

  2. Step 2

    Place the green parts of the scallions into a heatproof bowl and add the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar.

  3. Step 3

    Place the ginger, white parts of the scallions and the neutral oil into a small pot and place on medium-high heat. Stir until the ginger and scallions start to sizzle and become aromatic (watch closely so that they don’t burn), 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately — and carefully — pour this over the green scallion mixture. Stir to combine. Taste and season with salt; it should be quite salty to balance the neutral flavor of the tofu.

  4. Step 4

    Carefully drain the liquid from each package of tofu, and gently tip the blocks onto a clean kitchen towel. (Try to keep each block in one piece, but don’t worry if it falls apart.) Pat with another clean kitchen towel, removing as much liquid as possible. Transfer the blocks to one large plate or two smaller plates and cut into 1-inch blocks. Season with salt and pepper.

  5. Step 5

    Add the bok choy on top and around the tofu and spoon over the ginger-scallion oil. To serve, top with sesame seeds and eat as is or serve with rice.

Similar Recipes

Ratings

4 out of 5
161 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Anne of Eureka

I discovered Hetty's scallion oil in To Asia, With Love and adore it! I always have a large jar in my fridge and use it on everything from roasted veggies to pasta to tofu. I'm considering giving jars of this treasure as Christmas gifts this year. Try it!!

Ben

Solid recipe, but the ratio of tofu to everything else is way off. Halve the tofu or double everything else. I also recommend dousing the bok choy in the soy sauce, oil, & vinegar along with the green part of the scallions.

HSK

Picking up on some other notes here’s what I did: blanched the bok choy, then used couple tablespoons olive oil, which is always my preferred oil to sauté the scallion greens, ginger, and a couple of cloves of garlic. Added in the bok choy, and one tofu, at the end added in the scallion sauce on top of everything so that it all was hot and came together. This made about enough food for three people eating modestly so I would use both blocks of tofu next time and double everything else.

Jeff

I enjoyed this a lot. Added green beans because my bok choy were small. I only used one block of tofu. The garlic and ginger are heavenly. I skipped the 1/4 c of neutral oil entirely, only using 1 T sesame oil. It was absolutely great.

Courtney

This was great! Because it was for only 2 of us, I used half the bok choy, scallions, ginger, and tofu. However, I kept all of the other amounts the same, and it was really tasty. I served this with ramen noodles (tossed with soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil), and it was a the perfect meal. Leftovers the next day were great, too -- the flavors really melded.

Montana

I cooked it exactly as HSK suggested. Perfect and delicious! Thanks HSK!

Leah

I’ve made some variation of this every few days for the past week or so 😂 it’s so versatile. Used coconut oil in a pinch and it added a nice touch. I’ve used broccoli and cabbage in place of bok choy, and even used ponzu in place of the soy sauce. I usually use form tofu, so I fry that up or just add it cold. The world really is your oyster with this dish. Also, I’d made a recipe that called for just the cream at the top of a can of coconut milk, so I had the watery part leftover and used that to make rice, which made an excellent base for this dish, especially when using coconut oil to fry up the ginger and scallions.

harpla

Very tasty- I use toasted sesame oil, since that’s what I have. I think next time I’ll simmer the tofu (extra firm) with the veggies. In this first iteration, the tofu was cold- not a fan of that- could be I wasn’t quick enough with the assembly and hot oil.

WhitneyB

This dish gets one star for me. I followed the recipe and was disappointed to add the scallion oil (delicious by the way) on top of cold silken tofu. I will be saving the recipe for the oil but instead using fried or baked tofu, beef, ground pork or chicken. I would also advise having some sticky rice or noodles on the side as well.

Elizabeth

The flavors in this dish are very tasty. However, we were not big fans of the cold food. I think it would be enough to keep the Bok choy hot but my wife says no, she still wouldn’t like it. It probably would go over much better in the summer. Tomorrow we’ll eat it as leftovers and we’ll both warm the whole thing up, with rice (rice was hot tonight) and we’ll see how we like it then.

Emily

I really enjoyed this but ended up throwing all the ingredients into a skillet and warming it up and then I added a little hot chili oil. I only used 1 package of tofu which was enough for me and next time I’ll probably use less oil.

Jill Olson

This creates a basically cold/lukewarm dish that we didn’t enjoy. The sauce is great, but I was wishing for firm, pan seared tofu.

Amy

This recipe is disappointing, because it takes wonderful ingredients and makes a so-so dish. Even with hot infused oil, salt, and white pepper, the tofu is limpid and chilly. The bok choy could be a little caramelized, but it’s just soft. Next time I will use firm tofu and brown it and the greens first. I am all for simple dishes, but only those where the ingredients have their due.

Ruby

Yum. I would have preferred more of the green onion sauce.

Lissa

Double the "sauce" Can also heat everything and serve warm

San Franciscan

Delicious. I added a little minced garlic and served with kimchi.

Anjali

Home run! Simple, elegant, and packed with flavor. I'd eat this every day over rice. Perfect for a hot summer day.

Patricia

Delicious but prep time is longer than expected (for me both times I made it).

Stephanie L

Lacking bok choy, I used steamed and cooled broccoli, and the dish was very tasty. I'm sure that it will be even better with the bok choy.

Leah

I’ve made some variation of this every few days for the past week or so 😂 it’s so versatile. Used coconut oil in a pinch and it added a nice touch. I’ve used broccoli and cabbage in place of bok choy, and even used ponzu in place of the soy sauce. I usually use form tofu, so I fry that up or just add it cold. The world really is your oyster with this dish. Also, I’d made a recipe that called for just the cream at the top of a can of coconut milk, so I had the watery part leftover and used that to make rice, which made an excellent base for this dish, especially when using coconut oil to fry up the ginger and scallions.

Cynthia

Great recipe. Have to say I decided to brown the tofu with a spoonful of the sauce, then threw the bok choi in for a quick stir fry. Excellent.

Robin

The tofu it uncooked and cold?

Mo

The tofu is already cooked but yes it's cold. Cold silken tofu is delicious.

Courtney

This was great! Because it was for only 2 of us, I used half the bok choy, scallions, ginger, and tofu. However, I kept all of the other amounts the same, and it was really tasty. I served this with ramen noodles (tossed with soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil), and it was a the perfect meal. Leftovers the next day were great, too -- the flavors really melded.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.

More From Easy Vegan Recipes

Trending on Cooking

Cooking Guides