How to Make Dau Hu Nhoi Nam (Mushroom Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce)
Vietnamese dishesTofu DishesNationwide45 minutes
Mushroom stuffed tofu in tomato sauce suits a light rice meal. The filling of wood ear, shiitake and pickled mustard greens is where the crunch and sweetness come from. The hard part is that the filling crumbles easily and can drop out during frying.
Two tablespoons of tapioca starch mixed into the filling absorb the water from the tofu, which binds the filling instead of letting it fall apart. Once stuffed, the pieces are fried until the surface sets, then go into the tomato sauce. Fifteen minutes of simmering lets each piece take on the sweet and sour tomato, and it works with white rice or rice vermicelli.
This batch weighs about 1.3kg, at roughly 149 calories per 100g.
Method
Soak the wood ear until soft and shred it finely. Soak the glass noodles until soft and cut into 2cm lengths. Chop the leek, keeping the white stems and the green tops separate.
Soak the shiitake until soft, blanch and cut into small dice. Rinse the pickled mustard greens in cold water, squeeze dry and shred finely. Finely chop the tomatoes. Dip the white tofu in hot water and drain.
Cook the filling: fry the green leek tops with the wood ear, shiitake and pickled greens until fragrant, then let it cool.
Halve the fried tofu, scoop out some of the middle into a bowl, add the white tofu and 2 tablespoons tapioca starch and mash together. Fold in the glass noodles and the vegetable filling and season with 1 teaspoon MSG, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
Stuff the filling into the tofu pieces and fry briefly until the surface sets.
Make the tomato sauce: fry the pickled leek bulbs with the rest of the leek, add the tomatoes and cook until the water has gone, then add 1 bowl of water and cook until the tomatoes are soft. Season with 1 teaspoon MSG, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend.
Add the tofu to the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes, turning the pieces so both sides take on the seasoning.
Tips
Cooking the vegetable filling before mixing makes the dish far more fragrant.
Tapioca starch takes up the water in the tofu, which binds the filling and keeps it from crumbling.
Scoop out the fried tofu only moderately, as digging too deep tears the shell when the filling goes in.
Rinse the pickled mustard greens in cold water and wring them dry, so the filling is not sharply sour.
Sear the surface before simmering, which is what holds the shape of the tofu in the sauce.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.