The first time I tried tofu, I was a kid, and it was straight out of the package (Mom wasn’t looking, and I snuck a taste). I didn’t touch this “abomination” of food again until much later in life, once I’d finally figured out cooking.
Fast forward to dinner the other night, and I decided to add tofu to my kids’ meal. I expected the same reaction I had as a kid, but to my surprise, they loved it!
They even exclaimed, “This is the best food ever!” Score one for Mom!
Tofu is a great protein option when you’re in a pinch. Honestly, I turned to tofu in my early adulthood because I was too lazy to prep meat, and for once, laziness worked out in favor of healthy eating.
Since tofu is a blank canvas, eating it plain isn’t ideal—it’s best fried and paired with a bold sauce like spicy tomato or teriyaki.
Tofu comes in a variety of firmness. I like to use silken tofu in soups.
My favorite is spicy kimchi stew with silken tofu. It is loaded with bold flavors.
For milder soups, I use medium firm tofu, like in Vietnamese Tofu and Garlic Chive Soup (Canh Dau Hu He).
And sometimes I like to fry up firm tofu and pair it with tomato sauce (Dau Hu Sot Ca Chua), a very common Vietnamese side dish that goes great with steamed rice.
The latter was what we had for dinner with the kids the other night. To further win them over, I added ground pork. Mission accomplished.
Recipe is below for that exact dish that they all loved. Happy cooking!
Vietnamese Fried Tofu and Pork in Tomato Sauce (Dau Hu Thit Sot Ca Chua)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
Description
If you’ve got plenty of tomatoes and need a quick, easy side dish, this recipe is perfect. Serve with steamed rice for a delicious and complete meal.
Ingredients
- 16 oz firm tofu
- 4 oz ground pork
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 12 oz ripe tomatoes (diced)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 green onion (sliced thinly; whites and greens separated)
Instructions
- Prepare tofu: Remove tofu from package. Rinse, drain, and wrap it in 3 layers of paper towels. Apply pressure to squeeze out the excess liquid then unwrap. Make a horizontal cut exactly in the middle and 5 even vertical cuts. This will yield 12 flat square pieces of tofu.
- Season ground pork with oyster sauce, garlic and whites of green onions.
- Fry tofu: In a medium pan, heat vegetable oil on medium high. Fry the tofu until golden brown on the top and bottom sides (about 3 minutes per side). Remove tofu from pan and set aside.
- Fry ground pork: To the empty skillet, add the marinated ground pork and cook for about 2 minutes, while breaking it up.
- Add tomatoes and water. Let the tomatoes simmer on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Season with ketchup, fish sauce and ground black pepper.
- Finish: Return fried tofu back to the pan. Give it a quick stir and garnish with remaining green onions.
Notes
Make it faster by getting already fried tofu cubes, available in many Asian supermarkets.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian, Vietnamese
