Based off of Hoisin Tofu and Almonds
I've decided to name Thursdays, Chinese Food Thursdays in an attempt to stave off those cravings for greasy Chinese take out. I've also been meaning to try to cook more Chinese food now that I have a wok and a great cookbook. I got the cookbook a few years ago and haven't gotten around to making much out of yet. Hopefully Chinese Food Thursdays will motivate me to crack it open.
I didn't actually use the cookbook this time though because I had some pre-cubed tofu and bean sprouts left over from the Pad Thai and there are no tofu recipes in it. I was feeling the need for something healthy after eating out the last few nights and had found the Hoisin Tofu recipe a few days ago. I thought it looked worth a try. I've been looking for good tofu recipes that use marinating as a method but have been having more trouble finding them than I thought. This recipe does have you marinate the tofu for a while in broth which gives it some flavor but not a lot. The batter though definitely adds good flavor to the tofu. I'm not very up on the methods of tofu preparation but I'd never heard of battering it and frying it before.
I soaked the tofu for about an hour in the veggie broth and used the batter she recommended. I didn't whip the egg white at all before adding the cornstarch and hoisin though and I think that was a bad idea. The cornstarch never really incorporated that well into the egg white. I changed the sauce proportions to 1/2 of the reserved broth and 3 tablespoons each of hoisin and soy sauce. I didn't bother boiling the sauce and made a separate cornstarch slurry with a tablespoon each of cornstarch and water.
I fried the tofu as per the instructions. The veggies I used were broccoli, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and red pepper. I stir fried the broccoli and mushrooms first, added the garlic and cooked that for about 30 seconds. Then I added cashews instead of almonds and the bean sprouts and red pepper and cooked it all for another minute or two. Last I added the sauce and the cornstarch slurry. I served it over short grain white rice, my rice of choice for Chinese and Japanese cuisine.
Our overall impression was that it was pretty good. The broccoli was a really good addition but the bean sprouts didn't really belong with that particular sauce and next time I'm definitely adding the baby corn.
That looks good! My standard stir-fry uses pan-fried tofu, no batter -- just press the water out of it, then cook tofu cubes in a little oil until golden brown on all sides. I use whatever veggies are on hand, plus a sauce made of equal parts soy sauce and mirin (rice wine), adding ginger, chili sauce, garlic, and sometimes cilantro to taste.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura! I've done something similar to what you do but I'm trying to spice up the tofu so that Joel likes it more. Then once he's gotten more used to it, I plan to slip it into more things and hopefully he won't notice. Hah, when I say it like that it makes it seem like I'm cooking for a five year old :).
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