Date Cooked: June 18, 2020
Bean Curd?! Yech! Don’t worry, it’s just tofu. We loved the baked crispy tofu I made a couple of weeks ago so we thought we’d try something similar. I made this dish back in 2016 and it rated 4 stars so, it’s definitely worth trying again.
My sister-in-law Linda used to make a similar dish for our kids when we would get together at her house – she is a great cook. I’d try a sample and think “Wowsers! Let the grownups eat this instead of the roast.” Looking on the internet and consulting with Linda we think this recipe from SparkPeople is close to what she made.
I didn’t decide to take pictures and post this until I was pretty well into the process so we’ll jump into the middle of things. First I started a batch of Jasmine coconut rice. So, simple: 1 can of coconut milk, 1 cup of well-rinsed Jasmine rice, and a ½ teaspoon of salt into the rice cooker. I could have tossed in a bit of unsweetened grated coconut but didn’t think of it until I wrote this sentence.
While the rice cooks, place a 1 pound block of firm or extra firm tofu between two sheets of paper towels on a plate and weight it down on top. I used a cast iron hamburger press, but another plate with a large can of tomatoes would do as well – or maybe a small sauce pan.
Then get to chopping. Slice about ½ lb mushrooms – I used cremini – a couple of slices of ginger, a crushed garlic clove, and thinly slice the white part of a two scallions. And a bit of corn starch dissolved in water.
Make a sauce of soy sauce, sugar, and oyster sauce. The recipe says to also use some sherry, but it’s not in the ingredient list, so I ignored it.
Now the tofu should be dry(-ish) and ready to cut into ½-inch cubes.
For stir fry you have to have your ingredients line up – it doesn’t take long to cook so you don’t want to stop in the middle to measure or slice something. I line things up in the order we use them – more or less.
When the rice is a few minutes from being done, start cooking.I used to have a cast iron wok, but I found that a regular non-stick frying pan works fine – even if it may not be authentic. Cleanup is easier too.
Sizzle the crushed garlic and ginger slices in a couple of tablespoons of hot vegetable oil. Then add the mushrooms and stir fry for a couple of minutes – until they darken. We aren’t going for steakhouse mushrooms where they are cooked all the way down. Next add the cubed tofu and the sauce and gently stir for a few minutes. Be careful; if you use soft tofu or stir to hard it will start to look like scrambled eggs – we want cubes, not curds.
Toss in the scallion slices for about half a minute, then stir in the cornstarch mixture.
Dish up a side of coconut rice and add the tofu. If you want fancy, drizzle a little sesame oil over the top of the tofu and then a few long slices of the green part of the scallion. Kimchi on the side please.
Dinner is served.
Rating: ★★★★ This is SO good! I love it when I get a tasty meal for little effort. The mushrooms add that meaty/savory flavor that we love from a meat dish. Don’t stress about my vague measurements and instructions; use the link to the SparkPeople recipe here.
