(video) Two easy tofu recipes

In this video Lazy Penguin shows you how to make two delicious tofu dishes. Below the video you can find the written recipes.

Recipe 1: Thousand year egg tofu salad

Serves 4, cooking time: 20 minutes
Lazy Penguin: “Easy, vegetarian and protein rich, there is nothing that this delicious tofu salad can’t do. Great as a starter or cold dish when serving guests.”

Ingredients:

• One soft tofu block, about 250g
• 2 thousand year eggs (preserved egg)
• 4 stalks coriander
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Pinch of salt (optional)
• Sesame oil (optional)

1. Put the tofu in a pan with boiling water, enough to cover. Boil for 1 minute. This will disinfect the tofu. (In the video we simply forgot this step and we’re still alive to tell the tale, but for sanitary reasons we advise this step.) Drain the water and rinse the tofu with cold water.

2. Cut your tofu in blocks of around 2x2cm. Cut the thousand year eggs in smaller pieces. Chop the coriander stalks.

3. Add the tofu, egg and coriander in a bowl. Use a big spoon or fork and mash the ingredients together. Add seasoning. Start with 2 tbs of soy sauce and two dashes of sesame oil if using. Mix well, and taste. Add more soy sauce or salt if needed. Add more coriander if the coriander taste is not prominently featured in the dish. You want the three ingredients to be about equally represented when tasting. 

That’s all! Wasn’t that easy? Enjoy your delicious, healthy tofu salad! Who knew tofu could be so versatile?

Recipe 2: Braised tofu with minced meat

Serves 4, cooking time: 30-40 minutes
Lazy Penguin: “I slightly tweaked the amounts for this recipe compared to the video for maximum flavour. And included minced meat and paksoi.”

Ingredients:

• 2 small tofu blocks or 1 big block, 400 g. Firm or soft
• 100 g minced meat (substitute with 200g mushrooms for vegan)
• 1 stalk spring onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (replace with vegetarian oyster sauce for vegan)
• cornstarch
• white pepper (optional)
• 200 ml chicken stock (optional, replace with vegetable stock for vegans or with water)
• 200 g (Shanghainese) paksoi (optional)

Preparation:
1. Cut the tofu in blocks of 2 by 2 cm. Having bigger pieces will help to keep them from breaking apart later on. Cut the spring onion in rings. Mince the garlic. Cut the mushrooms in bite-sized pieces if using. Cut the paksoi in bite size pieces.

Cooking:
2. Heat a medium sized wok or skillet with about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the meat/mushrooms. Stir and brown the meat on medium-high heat. Break apart big chunks of meat with a spatula. When the meat/mushrooms is almost completely browned, add the garlic. Add some salt and white pepper, about 2 big pinches each.

3. Turn the heat to medium. Add the tofu and gently stir. Add about 200 ml of stock or water. The fluid should cover about 1 cm of height of tofu, as you will be boiling it off again.

4. Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce, along with another pinch of salt and a little more white pepper. Stir a bit and let it simmer for a few minutes.

5. Make the cornstarch mix: one big teaspoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of water and stir. Set aside for later.

6. After three minutes of simmering and occasional soft stirring, check the amount of fluids in the pan. If needed, add a bit more stock or water. If there is too much water, simply turn the heat to medium-high and keep stirring. When there is a layer of 5 mm of fluids, add the paksoi. Stir and let this sit for about a minute.

7. Add the green onions and the cornstarch mix to the pan and stir softly. You want the sauce to completely coat to tofu. If the sauce is still too watery, add a bit more cornstarch mix.

8. Taste the tofu to see if it’s salty enough. If not, add some soy sauce, salt or white pepper to taste. Serve.

Enjoy your awesome absolutely not bland tofu dish! Have a good weekend!