Soft Tofu with Pork and Shrimp Gravy (Taohu Song Krueng)
This is the Thai version of mapo tofu! Soft tofu in a sauce made with ground pork or chicken, shrimp, and any kind of vegetables you like. A great fridge cleanout recipe that's also kid friendly!
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, or sub GF oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or sub GF soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine, or sake
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons tapioca starch, or cornstarch
The Rest
- 2-3 Tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 tube egg tofu or soft soy tofu (about 250 g per tube), cut in ¾-inch thick pieces (see note 1)
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ cup diced carrots
- ½ cup diced onion
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 8 oz ground pork, or ground chicken
- 1 cup diced crunchy veg of your choice, see note 2
- 8 oz tomatoes, small diced
- White pepper, to taste
- 150 g shrimp, (optional) chopped into small pieces, or use more ground pork
- Chopped cilantro or green onions, for garnish
- Jasmine rice, for serving
Notes
- I love using egg tofu for this, which comes in a tube and can be found at any Asian grocery store where tofu is sold. You can also use soft tofu that comes in a similar tube, or you can use soft tofu blocks.
- For crunchy veg, I used celery and kohlrabi, but other options are green beans, broccoli (especially the stems), cauliflower, or baby corn.
Instructions
- Make the sauce by combining the oyster sauce, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sugar and water in a small bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. In another small bowl, dissolve the tapioca starch in a splash of water (a couple of tablespoons or so). Set aside.1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons water, 2 teaspoons tapioca starch
- Optional step: Pan fry the tofu. In a nonstick pan or wok, add enough oil to thoroughly cover the bottom and heat until hot over medium high heat. Add the tofu pieces and sear until golden on each side, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and place them in a shallow serving bowl.2-3 Tablespoons neutral oil, 1 tube egg tofu or soft soy tofu (about 250 g per tube)
- In the same pan, pour our excess oil if necessary so you have just a little bit to coat the bottom. On medium high heat, add the garlic, onions, carrots and the fish sauce and saute for a few minutes until the onions are translucent.4 cloves garlic, ½ cup diced carrots, ½ cup diced onion, 1 tsp fish sauce
- Add the ground pork and stir to break it up into small pieces, then add all the remaining vegetables, the tomatoes, the soy sauce mixture (not the starch slurry) and the white pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes are mushy and have released most of their juices, and the vegetables are done to your liking.8 oz ground pork, 1 cup diced crunchy veg of your choice, 8 oz tomatoes, White pepper
- Stir the tapioca starch slurry as it will have settled, then pour about half of it into the pan while stirring. The sauce should thicken up immediately and reaches full thickening power once the sauce returns to a boil. You can add the other half of the slurry if you feel it needs more thickening.
- Add the chopped shrimp (if using), and cook just until the shrimp is done. If it looks like it needs more liquid, add a splash of water. If you opted not to fry the tofu, put the tofu into the sauce now and let it simmer in the sauce to heat up for a couple of minutes.150 g shrimp
- Turn off the heat and do a final seasoning check, adding more soy sauce or fish sauce (in my case I added Golden Mountain Sauce) as desired.
- Plate. If you fried the tofu, ladle the sauce over the fried tofu. Garnish with cilantro or green onions if you wish and serve with jasmine rice.Chopped cilantro or green onions, Jasmine rice
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