Cook’s notes
In less than 20 minutes, you can whip up a delicious tofu dish that’s as filling as it is tasty. Serve as a main course for non-meat eaters, or as an appetizer or side dish for omnivores. It’s also a filling snack.
This tofu in oyster sauce is not vegan, is it? No, because of the oyster sauce. But this can be transformed into a vegan dish by simply substituting vegetarian oyster sauce which is made from oyster mushrooms.
Firm or semi-firm tofu is best for this dish so that you can pan fry it easily. Silken tofu may be used too although it is a bit more difficult to handle during the frying stage.
Tofu in oyster sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooking oil
- 300 grams firm or semi-firm tofu
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (for vegans, there are vegetarian oyster sauces)
- 2 tablespoons Chinese soy sauce
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
Garnish
- ½ teaspoon sesame seed oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- sliced scallions
Instructions
Cook the tofu
- Start heating the cooking oil in a wok.
- Line a plate or bowl with a stack of paper towels, drop in the tofu then cover with another stack of paper towels.
- Weigh down with a plate or bowl to remove as much surface moisture as you can.
- Cut the tofu into two-inch squares about half an inch thick.
- Slide the tofu slices into the hot oil and cook over high heat, flipping halfway through, to brown both sides.
- Scoop out the tofu and rest on a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.
Mix the sauce
- In a bowl, pour in the oyster sauce, soy sauce and broth.
- Add the sugar and pepper, and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in two tablespoons of water.
Cook the dish
- Pour off the oil in which the tofu was fried leaving only about two tablespoons in the wok.
- Saute the garlic and ginger until aromatic, about a minute.
- Pour in the sauce and allow to boil for a minute.
- Stir the starch solution and pour into the boiling sauce. Stir until the sauce has thickened and is no longer cloudy.
- Add the fried tofu to the sauce in a single layer.
- Boil for half a minute then flip them over and boil for another half a minute.
- Arrange the tofu on a plate, spoon the sauce over them then drizzle in the sesame seed oil.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallions.
Thai fried egg salad (yum khai dao)
