Tofu with Vegetable Sauce
The tofu is served warm with a tasty thick sauce containing plenty of vegetables. The vegetable sauce transforms the simple tofu into a more substantial dish. I eat this using chopsticks but if you or your guests are not good with them, I would recommend that you serve this with a spoon. In which case, you might make the vegetables cut a bit shorter.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 pack of silken tofu ((note 1))
- ½ cup carrots julienned into 4-5cm (2") long
- 2 shiitake mushrooms (, stems removed and sliced thinly)
- ½ cup of boiled bamboo shoot strips ((note 2))
- A handful of snow peas
- ¼ cup of shallots (, finely sliced diagonally)
- ½ tsp grated ginger
- 1 cup dashi stock ((note 3))
- ½ tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce ((note 3))
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp cornflour/corn starch dissolved in 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- 1
To prepare the snow peas, snap the tip gently without completely detaching the end from pod. Then pull it along the side of the pod to strip the stringy part of the pod off. Do the other side using the opposite end of the pod (note 5).
- 2
Blanch snow peas in boiling water with a pinch of salt for 30 seconds, then transfer to a bowl of cold water to stop further cooking. Slice thinly diagonally, making long slices to match the length of the other vegetables.
- 3
Add dashi stock, carrots, shiitake and bamboo shoots in a pot and cook over high heat. When the vegetables are nearly cooked, add snow peas, shallots and the remaining sauce ingredients excluding corn flour slurry.
- 4
When the sauce starts boiling, stir in the cornflour slurry to make the sauce thicken. Turn the heat off.
- 5
Place a pot with water sufficient to boil tofu over high heat. Remove the plastic cover of the pack by cutting it with a knife along the pack. Turn the pack upside down and place it onto your palm. Squeeze the plastic pack to loosen the tofu into your palm. Cut the tofu in half width-wise (along the short axis) into two blocks while on the palm and gently place the tofu in the boiling water one by one.
- 6
Turn the heat down to simmer gently. When the tofu starts floating or moves lightly, it is ready. Take a piece of tofu out of the water using a spatula or spoon with holes and place it on a plate or a shallow bowl. Pour over the vegetable sauce and serve immediately.