Recipe: Braised Tofu with Mushrooms and Carrots

I had a conversation with M this weekend about being given the choice to give up vegetables or to give up meat. For me, I could cut out meat. For him, it was the opposite.



Before I moved in with him, I would have primarily meat (usually chicken) once a week for lunch; for dinner, I'd have lots of vegetables with small amounts of meat. Now, I eat meat everyday. Sometimes I have it for breakfast as well! Now, I like meat, but I love vegetables as well. Sometimes I actually crave certain vegetables.

It must have crept into my subconcious, as we went grocery shopping yesterday and I decided to make braised tofu with roast pork - however, when we were done dinner, I put some leftovers away and said, "what's that in the corner? Oh! I totally forgot to add the roast pork!" And I (I can only speak for myself) didn't even miss it.

Thus, we have a recipe for Braised Tofu with Mushrooms and Carrots. :)

This recipe was inspired by Kylie Kwong's Food TV show, "My China". Her dish was Braised Tofu with Tomatoes - I actually didn't feel like having tomatoes, so mushrooms and carrots would suffice.

Ingredients
1/4 c canola oil
1 package (350g) firm tofu, cut into 3/4" slices (I used Sunrise brand)
~1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1" of ginger, sliced
1/2 carrot, sliced

3 T Chinese cooking wine
1 T sugar
1/2 t dried red chilis (or to taste)
1-2 T soy sauce
2 T white vinegar
Green onion, sliced, for garnish

Method
In a large pan, heat canola oil at medium heat.

Drop in slices of tofu away from you, and allow the slices to brown slightly. Flip over with tongs and allow to brown. Remove tofu from pan.



Saute ginger until fragrant. Add mushrooms and carrot and saute until mushrooms are soft. Add cooking wine to pan and stir. Allow to evaporate for about a minute before adding sugar, chilis, soy sauce and vinegar. Make some space for the tofu; add the tofu into the pan and baste with the pan juices. Allow to braise and heat through until sauce has reduced by half.

Plate, garnish with green onions, and enjoy with steamed rice!



I found the tofu nice and "pickle-y". The leftovers were nice for lunch as you could taste the spiciness of the chilis, and the sweet / sour / saltiness of everything else. Num!

If I would change anything, it would be to change to a medium tofu. Although the firm tofu was nice, it was a little too chewy for this dish. Still, a healthy recipe keeper.