Braised Tofu with Spring Onions
小葱焖豆腐
English: Braised Tofu with Spring Onions
Chinese: 小葱焖豆腐
Pinyin: xiao cong men dou fu
Tofu is a blank canvas to work with in the kitchen. It can take and carry any flavour thrown at it, and imparts a subtle texture to a dish. Braised tofu is a big part of Northern cooking, and I love the simplicity of a dish like this which is usually found on the table of homes throughout Northern China. From start to finish, this is a 15-minute meal but tastes like it might have been bubbling away for hours.
Tofu is cheap in China and found everywhere. There are so many different types from the creamy soft silken tofu to semi-firm to smoked to fermented to puffed. Each one is wonderful in its own way, but the most common in China is firm tofu used in stir-fries, braises and soups. It’s perhaps most famous as the star of the Sichuan classic, mapo doufu. If you think you have absolutely no interest in wishy-washy, pale blocks of bean curd, mapo is the gateway dish; try Fuchsia Dunlop’s recipe from The Food of Sichuan, then make up your mind.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 block of firm tofu (350g-400g)
1 cup of water
4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4 spring onions - green part only
Handful of leafy greens (optional)
2 teaspoon water + 2 teaspoon cornstarch/corn-flour - mixed together
Method
Cut the tofu into squares by cutting first into thick slabs (about the thickness of a deck of cards) then cut the slabs lengthways then across 3 times so that you have cubes.
Slice the green onion and garlic.
Heat a wok or pan over a low heat and fry the garlic in 1 ½ tablespoons of oil until it’s fragrant but not yet coloured. You can tilt the pan so the oil and garlic pool together; the garlic has less chance of burning this way.
Add the tofu, then add the 1 cup of water and bring to the boil.
Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar, and then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Stir the sauce, but do not be tempted to stir the tofu too much as it will break apart and turn to mush. You can add the greens about 6 minutes into the cooking if you like.
After 10 minutes, add the green part of the spring onion and salt and give it a stir, lifting gently from the bottom of the pan and turning.
Mix together the water and cornstarch, then add to the sauce (the corn-flour will thicken the sauce and give it a sheen), stir quickly then remove from the heat and serve.
