Tasty tofu recipe to share

[gertdog]

We loved this recipe!

This is from the March issue of Sunset magazine, from a section on Vietnamese food. It's easy to prepare. The tofu is excellent, and even better the next day after it sits in its sauce overnight. The recipe makes 4 small servings... in the real world, might be more like 3 servings.

I paired this with jasmine rice and steamed spinach, as suggested. Really wonderful! There are more Vietnamese recipes available at www.sunset.com, including a variation on this recipe that uses tilapia instead of tofu.

Braised Tofu in Caramel Sauce (Tau Hu Kho)

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 25 minutes

NOTES: Caramelized sugar infuses the sauce with sweetness and gives it a deep mahogany shine. Serve this great vegetarian dish with hot cooked rice and stir-fried spinach with garlic.

MAKES: 4 servings

1 pound firm tofu

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup minced shallots

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions (including tops)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Cut tofu into 2- by 3-inch, 1/2-inch-thick slices and pat dry.

2. Place sugar in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat; shake pan often until sugar is melted and amber colored, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup hot water (mixture will bubble vigorously) and stir over medium heat until caramelized sugar is dissolved.

3. Stir in soy sauce, shallots, ginger, and garlic; stir often over high heat until boiling. Lay tofu pieces in a single layer in sauce. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. With a wide spatula, turn pieces over; simmer until hot and coated with sauce, 3 to 4 minutes longer.

4. Transfer tofu and sauce to a serving dish and sprinkle with green onions and pepper.

Per serving: 219 cal., 41% (89 cal.) from fat; 19 g protein; 9.9 g fat (1.4 g sat.); 18 g carbo (0.2 g fiber); 790 mg sodium; 0 mg chol.

[Jessica]

Thanks for the recipe, gertdog. I love tofu and my DH loves sweet main dishes, so this could be the perfect compromise.

[Terrytx]

Thanks for posting this. This sounds like something DD and I would love.

[Scout]

Thanks for sharing this recipe. I am always looking for new ways to prepare tofu and I love sweat things.

Anne

[sunberst]

i just threw this in the garbage 5 minutes ago & i am chowing on some totino's pizza rolls because i am starving & just spent the last half hour making something that i have to throw away. :(

not sure what i did wrong?!?!

i thawed out some firm tofu that i had in the freezer last night. today i took some paper towels & soaked up any excess water from defrosting (even though i drain it before i freeze it). it was like i always use it, i pressed out as much water as i could & it was nice and firm. then i spent about 20 minutes peeling & chopping the garlic, ginger, green onions & shallots. placed the sugar in a dry skillet, and it took about 5 minutes to liquify & get golden. then i added the hot water. it bubbled like crazy (like recipe said). soon it was completely dissolved & then i added the soy sauce & chopped things (except green onions). it boiled & looked nice & saucey. i added the cubed tofu in a single layer, and 5 minutes later i peeked under a piece to see if it was nice & "caramelized", and it wasnt at all. it was a brown color, but the tofu looked like brown little sponges. not "deep mahogany shine" like the recipe stated. there was no shine. it looked "blech". so i left it to simmer another 5 mintues hoping it would sorta harden a bit & get a little caramelized. it didnt. in fact the tofu started to fall apart! i flipped it over anyways & tried the other side- no luck. when i touched it with a spoon, it was falling apart in the skillet in a spongey tofu brown crumble mess.

it was just mush. i tasted it, and it tasted like mush. the tofu was dry like it was suppose to be. i always slice & drain it between paper towels & a heavy plate. then i wrap in saran & freeze so the texture gets "meatier". then i absorb any defrost water after i defrost it. it wasnt bone dry, but is water packed tofu ever bone dry? but i would consider it dry, and i cook with tofu all the time. it is an ingredient i feel comfortable using.

i expected it to turn out like the recipe sounded- nice little nuggets of tofu coated in a shiney caramel like coating. did not happen.

what did i do wrong? this recipe sounded so yummy & i was so excited about it. :(

[DmOrtega]

Originally posted by gertdog
...
www.sunset.com, ...

It looks like you have included the comma in the url and it doesn't work. oops.:)

[sunberst]

i hope i didnt discorage anyone to make this recipe. :(

gertdog loved it, so it must of worked out for her. if anyone else has tried it or tries it, let me know what happens. i want to try this recipe again, but i am scared now since my outcome flopped last night.

[gertdog]

Oops, sorry about the url. It should be www.sunset.com

Beth, I'm so sorry this didn't work out for you. :(

I think maybe you expected something a little different from what the recipe provides, because it sounds like the sauce turned out the right way. The tofu is braised in a caramelized-sugar sauce, but the sauce doesn't harden. The "caramelized sugar" refers to the flavor provided by the melted, golden sugar rather than the texture of the finished dish. The sauce itself is a deep mahogany color, but the tofu doesn't get shiny. It absorbs a lot of the sauce, and then there is extra in the pan to spoon over the top.

The texture of your tofu sounds a little different from mine. I use extra firm, sliced into slabs, dried with paper towels. When cooked, it holds together and has a firm but not spongy or chewy texture. I have never frozen tofu before... maybe that contributed to the sponginess?

I've made this several times since I originally posted and we still love this recipe. It is the only tofu recipe that my DH ever rated a 10! I hope that if you try it again the results are more to your liking. :)

I am pretty sure that Terrytx and KValley have made this dish, so maybe they can offer other insights.

[KValley]

Beth- I wish I had some words of wisdom to give you! You sound like you are much more experienced with tofu than I. As Stephanie said, the sauce doesn't harden- it just cooks down to a rich, thin sauce.

It sounds like the major difference is that I did not use water-packed tofu- I used extra-firm, vacumn-packed- the kind you find on the shelf in the natural foods section, as opposed to the refrigerated sort. Since your tofu fell apart, my guess would be that there was too much liquid in it...:confused:

Here are the comments I posted after I made it last spring:

http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21751&highlight=caramelized+tofu

Do try again, it's soooo good!

[Scout]

sunberst
I have not tried the recipe yet but it sounds like the difference is that you froze the tofu. I myself like the texture of frozen tofu but I don't think it works well in all recipes and this sounds like one of them. The frozen tofu will absorb more of the liquid then not freezing. Frozen tofu is like a sponge just like you described. I would encourage you to not give up on the recipe but try it using tofu without freezing and hopefully you will get better results.
I have this recipe printed out maybe I will give it a try this weekend. Thanks for the reminder.

Anne

[gertdog]

Here's a link to the recipe on the Sunset website. It has a picture that shows what the finished dish looks like. Mine turns out looking pretty much the same way, except less artfully presented. :)

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Premium/Food/2002/03-Mar/Vietnam0302/Tofu0302.html

[sunberst]

thanks for the advice guys.

i was expecting something else. more of like how fried tofu is- a little crispy on the outside. and since i expected that, i cooked it longer than the recipe stated hoping it would get a nice shiny coating. it didnt. the shallots & garlic did not stick to the tofu, and i think i expected it to sorta "stick" to the tofu and form a coating, instead of just being colored tofu in sauce.

yea, once you freeze tofu, it does get a little spongey- but i only had frozen on hand, and figured it would still work and may even be meatier. i guess i misjudged.

i will try the vacumn packed kind on the shelf- and try it again.

i did really have fun watching the sugar turn into a nice amber liquid. and watching it quickly harden when i threw the water in, then melt down again was pretty fun as well. :p

oh, i was so caught up in my tofu drama that i forgot i had rice simmering in a pot on the stove. i was upset so i made those microwave pizza rolls & went online and totally forgot about the rice! i *almost* ruined it. it is still okay. saving it to reheat w/something else tonight. :o

[sunberst]

Originally posted by gertdog
Here's a link to the recipe on the Sunset website. It has a picture that shows what the finished dish looks like. Mine turns out looking pretty much the same way, except less artfully presented. :)

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Premium/Food/2002/03-Mar/Vietnam0302/Tofu0302.html um no, mine did NOT look like this! originally it was in that shape, but after cooking it turned VERY dark (almost purple-brown-black), and it fell apart & was a brown mush. (i will leave that to your imaginations) :p :D :o :rolleyes:

[bossmom]

Originally posted by Scout
sunberst
I have not tried the recipe yet but it sounds like the difference is that you froze the tofu. I myself like the texture of frozen tofu but I don't think it works well in all recipes and this sounds like one of them. The frozen tofu will absorb more of the liquid then not freezing. Frozen tofu is like a sponge just like you described

I think Scout was right, Sunberst. The problem was that you froze the tofu. I also did not try this recipe but the way the texture is described by people and recipe leads me to believe that the tofu should not be frozen for this recipe.

[catharine]

I made this recipe back in March and thought it was wonderful. Just wanted to add my positive reviews. I used water-packed tofu, pressed but not frozen.

[Scout]

I made it this weekend and it turned out great. I had it with rice and suated vegtables. Gertdog thanks for posting the wonderful recipe.

Anne:)

[Pony]

I made this last night for DH and I. We both loved it. We had it w/ Basmati Rice and Seasame-Roasted Asparagus from CL.

After reading this thread and seeing Sunberst's results, I decided to saute the tofu first. We both prefer it a little crisp anyways and I've been doing that in tofu recipes if it doesn't call for it. I had to use a regular onion instead of shallots b/c I couldn't find them at the store I usually go to :confused: . I've caramelized onions and mushrooms before, but have never made a sauce like this and it was quite fun to see the caramelization occur and then thin out. I loved it! I was expecting it to be a tad more sweet, but am very pleased with the way it turned out with just a hint of sweetness.

This was very easy to prepare and good for a weeknight!

Thanks for posting.

Michelle