Caramel-Cooked Tofu - Recipe
Caramel cooking is a Vietnamese technique that is most often applied to chicken, but works equally well to produce a deeply flavored tofu that is laquered with a sweet, salty and fragrant sauce. The traditional method requires you to make the caramel sauce separately, but Chef John of the blog Food Wishes came up with this simpler technique that allows you to create the sauce right in the pan with your main ingredient.
This recipe will serve 2 hungry adults with nothing but rice as an accompaniment, or more as part of a larger spread.
Feel free to add a small amount of a vegetable to this stir-fry. Sliced fresh bamboo shoots are excellent. For something that takes a few minutes, like broccoli, cook it separately first and then add it at the end. More tender items such as red bell peppers can be added at the same time as the white onion.
Caramel-Cooked Tofu
Vegan and gluten-free / Serves 2-4 / 20 minutes
- ¼ cup rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce (gluten-free if required)
- 1 teaspoon Chinese toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 pound extra-firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced white onion
- 4-8 dried small red chile pods (optional)
- 5 green onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- Whisk together the rice wine, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
- Thoroughly pat the tofu dry with a clean towel, and cut into squares, approximately 2” x 2” x 1/3”. Heat the oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over a high flame. Lay the tofu squares in the skillet in a single layer (or as close to a single layer as possible). Fry until golden brown on the first side, about 4 minutes.
- Flip the tofu and immediately pour in the sauce and add the white onions, and the chile peppers if using. The sauce will be spluttering and caramelizing. Keep a close eye on it, and move the tofu around a little bit to let the sauce get under it. Keep cooking until the sauce has thickened and becomes a fairly thick glaze coating the tofu, about 4 more minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with the green onions.
