Braised tofu with black beans

This recipe employs a clever trick of rinsing fried firm tofu in boiling water. The helps remove any saturated oil present in the deep-fried tofu, which can have a slightly rancid flavour – giving your final dish a much ‘cleaner’ taste.

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 300 g packets fried firm tofu
• 2 tbsp (40 ml) vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 cm x 2 cm piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp black beans
• 1½ cups (375 ml) unsalted chicken stock
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• ¼ tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp potato starch mixed with ½ cup cold water
• 3 spring onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Place the tofu in a sieve and pour boiling water over to rinse. This step is optional.
2. Heat a wok or medium saucepan over medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute, or until the garlic begins to brown.
3. Add the black beans, chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and wine and bring to a simmer. Add the tofu and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the tofu has absorbed the flavour of the simmering liquid. Stir in as much of the starch mixture as needed to create a silky sauce.
4. Stir through the spring onions and serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.