TIA [100210] /// 紅燒豆腐

This happened an incredibly long time ago, three weeks back? I went to Ranch to stock up on veggies and on my way out, saw bags of fresh Shitake mushrooms. I was unfamiliar with this form of shitake, as I grew up eating the dehydrated sort. So I grabbed a bag to experiment with.

I went home, peered into the fridge, and realized that I had all the ingredients to make 紅燒豆腐 or, roughly translated, red braised tofu. ASIAN COOKING WOOOOO

Ingredients:

1 Box Firm Tofu

1 Crown Broccoli, about 1lb.

6oz Fresh Shitake

1 tbsp Corn Starch

2 tbsp Grapeseed Oil

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

1 tsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp Water

1 tsp White Pepper

1 tsp Corn Starch

Method:

1. Cut broccoli into bite-size florets. I usually like saving the stem for stir-frying or steaming.

2. Steam broccoli in pot or microwave (covered) for about 1min. Set aside.

3. Cut tofu into 3"x 1" strips, about 1/2" thick. Dry well with paper towels and coat with the corn starch.

4. In a small container, fill with corn starch, add wet ingredients (except oil) and white pepper. Mix well.

5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan/wok, fry tofu evenly on all sides, 2 minutes per side. Set aside on towel to drain oil.

6. Pour remaining oil into pan/wok and let sit until just before smoking. Drop broccoli into pan/wok and stir fry until crisp but not yet tender, about 1.5 minutes.

7. Place mushrooms, tofu, and sauce into pan/wok, coating everything well with the sauce. Cook another 1 minute or until mushroom is tender.

8. Plate up and serve.

Thoughts: during the cooking process, I think I covered the pot because the broccoli was a bit undercooked, but everything came out pretty good. I skimped on a bit of the cornstarch, so the sauce wasn't as thick as I would've liked it to be. Hmm, next time. I think it was a pretty good run for an improv'd dish.