Mushroom and Tofu

Mushroom and Tofu

Any tofu lovers out there ? I love tofu but this love is definitely not shared by my husband except for the odd dish where it accompanies some form of meat.  If you have read some of my previous posts you may have realised that my husband has a strong affinity to any type of Asian cuisine . So logically it made sense to try tofu this way to try to get him onboard. Believe it or not there were no questions as to where was the meat in this dish ? Or comments of why are we only having plants for dinner lol.  So I call this dish a win for me!

 If tofu isn't your deal feel free to substitute  one chicken breast for the tofu . I would suggest if you are substituting  please cube and season with ginger, garlic, salt and black pepper and pan fry before adding the mushrooms.  Canned or fresh mushrooms can be substituted for the dried mushrooms just omit the step of rehydrating .

This recipe does call for briefly pan frying the tofu as part of preparation , the cubes can be air fried on 390 for 10 minutes or just fried in some vegetable oil  on the stove pot.

 Ingredients

• Mushroom and Tofu Stir Fry

• 1/2 block of tofu cubed

• 1/2 tablespoon of finely minced ginger

• 1/2 tablespoon of finely minced garlic

• 1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms

Sauce

• 1 teaspoon of mirin (or white sugar )

• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce (optional)

• 1/2 tablespoon of light soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil

• 1/4 teaspoon of corn starch

• 1/4 vegetable bouillon cube

• 1 1/2 cup of water (reserved mushroom rehydrating liquid)

• 1/2 tablespoon of ginger

• 1/2 tablespoon of garlic

 Preparation:

Cut tofu block in half and on dish place paper towels on the top and bottom of the piece of tofu and add a cutting board or pot to press down the tofu . This helps remove excess water, this can be done for 15 minutes or while you are prepping the other ingredients.

 Place mushrooms in a heat proof dish and add 11/2 cups of boiling water onto the dried mushrooms .  Let this rest about 10 minutes until the mushrooms plump up and remove from the water and slice into bite sized pieces.  

 Strain the water used to rehydrate the mushrooms and then add in all the sauce ingredients and mix well and set aside.

 Remove the weight from the tofu block and cut into cubes approximately 1/4 inch cubes. 

 In a non-stick fry pan, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil  and place on medium heat. Pan fry the tofu cubes, turning once . Don't turn the cubes until they naturally release from the pan to avoid breakage this usually takes 5-8 minutes per side .  Remove the tofu cubes from the pan and set aside.

 Add one teaspoon of oil to the used fry pan, add in the ginger and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes until fragrant then add the mushrooms and toss to evenly coat the mushrooms in the flavoured oil .

 Toss the tofu cubes to the mushroom mix carefully then add the sauce mixture and lower heat to simmer.

 Allow the mixture to thicken until it achieves a thick gravy like texture (approximately 8-10 minutes). Turn off heat and enjoy .