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.

Korean grilled beef skewers

Spicy, sweet with a richness that only the combination of doenjang and gochujang can impart. With a stovetop grill, you can enjoy these Korean grilled beef skewers any time of the year.

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.

Tofu braised in BBQ sauce

Connie Veneracion

A meatless dish that goes well with rice. Add texture to your tofu and rice meal by serving halved hard-boiled eggs and cucumber slices on the side.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American Fusion

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• ▢ 2 shallots peeled and chopped
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
• ▢ 1 cake firm tofu (about 300 grams), rinsed and drained well
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup BBQ sauce store bought or homemade

Instructions

 

• Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
• Saute the shallots and garlic until aromatic, about two minutes.
• Crumble the tofu on top of the shallots and garlic.
• Drizzle a quarter cup of BBQ sauce over the tofu and stir.
• Cook over medium heat, uncovered and with occasional stirring, until the mixture is quite dry.
• Taste. If too bland, stir in the remaining BBQ sauce.