Tofu braised in BBQ sauce

We love tofu here at home. While traditional dishes like ma po tofu is always a delight, we’re also trying to find new ways to enjoy it.

Braising crumbled tofu in sauce to mimic ground meat can be a simple affair if you use store-bought BBQ sauce. If, however, you’re inclined to make the sauce from scratch so that you can have better control with the flavor, you may want to use the marinade I made for our Korean grilled beef skewers.

When you have your BBQ sauce, cooking this dish is pretty straightforward. Note, however, that tofu contains plenty of water and it does take time to make all of that evaporate. It helps a lot if you press the uncut cake of tofu between stacks of paper towels for about ten minutes to start the process of removing the water before the tofu even hits the pan.

Saute chopped shallots and garlic in a little oil until aromatic. Take your tofu and crumble it directly into the pan.

Pour the BBQ sauce over the tofu and stir. At this point, the tofu will look pale and it will be tempting to add more BBQ sauce. Don’t. Remember that there’s still plenty of water to get rid off and as the water slowly evaporates, the tofu will start acquiring better color. The flavor of the BBQ sauce will become more pronounced too.

Braise the tofu, stirring occasionally, without covering the pan. When the mixture is almost dry, you will hear some sizzling. That means the tofu is already frying in the oil in the pan. Watch the tofu carefully at this stage to prevent the BBQ sauce from burning.