WF Recipes : Vegetarian Dishes : Red Cooked Tofu With Chinese Mushrooms

Red-cooked is a term applied to Chinese dishes cooked with dark soy sauce. Tamari is a type of soy sauce available in Asian shops that is wheat free.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

225g firm tofu
3 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine or medium-dry sherry
2 tsp soft dark brown sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
� tsp Chinese five-spice powder
pinch of ground, roasted Szechuan peppercorns
6 dried Chinese black mushrooms
1 tsp corn flour
2 tbsp pure vegetable oil
5-6 spring onions, white and green parts separated, sliced into 2.5cm/1 in lengths
Small basil leaves, to garnish
rice noodles, to serve

Direction:

Drain the Tofu, put dry with kitchen paper and cut into 2.5cm/1 in cubes. Place in a shallow dish.
In a small bowl, mix together the tamari, rice wine or sherry, sugar, garlic, ginger, five-spice powder and Szechuan peppercorns. Pour the marinade over the tofu, toss well and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the marinade.
Meanwhile, soak the dried black mushrooms in warm water for 20-30 minutes until soft. Drain, reserving 90ml/6 tbsp of the soaking liquid. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the mushrooms, remove the tough stalks and slice the caps. In a small bowl, blend the cornflour with the reserved marinade and mushroom soaking liquid.
Heat a wok until hot, add the oil and swirl it around to coat the pan. Add the tofu and fry for 2-3 minutes until evenly golden. Remove from the wok and set aside.
Add the mushrooms and white parts of the spring onions to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the marinade mixture and stir for 1 minute and thickened.
Return the tofu to the wok with the green spring onions. Simmer gently for 1-2 minutes. Serve at once, garnished with basil leaves, on a bed of rice noodles.

Nutritional Information: Per portion