Tofu and Scallions

Zeke Koch's Note:

An excellent yet simple tofu recipe that brings out the essential creaminess of soft tofu by contrasting it with bright touches of ginger and rich shitake mushrooms. We eat this for breakfast several times a week.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I use peanut)
• 1 lb tofu, 1 inch cubes (soft)
• 1 cup shiitake mushroom, dried
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 4 scallions, julienned
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (I use arrowroot)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions:

1. First cover the mushrooms in roughly four cups of boiling water and soak while you're preparing the rest of the ingredients.
2. Mince the ginger, slice the tofu into 1 inch cubes, julienne the scallions. Mix the thickener (arrowroot, water, oyster sauce and sesame oil) in a small bowl.
3. Heat a nonstick frying pan or wok on the stove. When it's hot add the oil and then the ginger. When the ginger starts to turn golden then add the tofu and shitake mushrooms. Almost immediately add about a cup of the mushroom soaking liquid and soy sauce.
4. Cook for 5 minutes turning once (be careful not to break up the tofu cubes). Toss the scallions on top, stir in the thickener and cook until the arrowroot turns clear. Serve with steamed rice.

Reviews

[Milla]

Made the tofu delicious and creamy. I used olive oil instead of sesame and peanut and it worked out just as well.

[Sillygirl77]

Yummy!! Ended up taking out the cornstarch because I the first time I probably did something wrong and it came out kinda too thick. Made it twice so far. Healthy and Yummy

[Aunt Cookie]

This was very good! It was a very speedy dish to make, and the results were flavorful. I wound up mashing the tofu after I was finished preparing this, because the 1-inch chunks of soft tofu were just a bit much for me (it seemed too slimy when it was in big pieces, but maybe that's just me). The combination of soft tofu, chewy shiitakes, and crunchy scallions was very nice, though. By the way, I only used 12 oz of tofu (one of those mori-nu vacuum packs) and did include the optional oyster sauce. Thanks for posting!