Two Stir-Fry Sauces

One of our Lenten lessons has been how little tofu you actually need to make a meal. It used to be that when we made a stir fry, we opened a container of tofu, pressed the tofu cake, and then used the whole container to make a stir fry, which David and I ate in a single sitting. What we learned is that we only need 1/3 of a container of tofu to make dinner for two.  So, once we open a container, we need to make three meals of the tofu in fairly short order - or then we have to throw the tofu away.

So, here are two yummy and easy stir fry sauces that can go over any stir fry - see the post below for some stir-fry basics. They both come from the cookbook called Wok Fast by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison (Ten Speed Press, 2002). I think it's long out of print, but we found a used copy online last summer after a friend recommended it. "The sauces for stir fries are worth the price of the book," she said. She was right.

Cantonese Black Bean Sauce
1/4 c chicken broth (I used vegetable broth and it was just fine)
1/4 dry sherry or Chinese rice wine (I used cooking sherry)
1 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
2 t black bean garlic sauce (you can by this in the International section of any larger grocery store)
2 t corn starch
1 t sugar
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper, or Asian chile sauce (siracha would be great, I used a Thai chile sauce - and we like spice, so I used a bunch of it!)

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. When the stir fry is nearly done, add to the pan. Cook another minute or two and the sauce will thicken.

Spicy Peanut Stirfry Sauce
3 T chicken broth (I used vegetable broth again)
3  dry sherry or Chinese rice wine (I used cooking sherry)
3 T creamy peanut butter
2 T oyster sauce
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 T Asian chile sauce (again, siracha would be great, but what I had was a Thai chile sauce, and I used more than 1 T)
2 t cornstarch
(I felt like it could have been sweeter, so I added a bit of sugar, less than a t)
Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. You might want to put the peanut butter in the microwave for 20 seconds to soften it). When the stir fry is nearly done, add to the pan. Cook another minute or two and the sauce will thicken.

Black Bean Sauce

Spicy Peanut Sauce