This simple, tangy Vietnamese tomato tofu is a comforting vegan dish that's very easy to make. It's made by adding baked or fried tofu cubes to a simple Asian onion-tomato sauce. Tomato tofu can be served with any rice or noodle dish.
3cupschopped tomatoesaround 400 grams, 4 medium tomatoes
1medium red onionsliced
3stalksspring onionkeep green and white parts separated
¼cupchopped cilantro
2large garlic clovesfinely chopped
1Thai red chili finely chopped
1tablespoonsoy sauce
½teaspoonpalm sugar
½teaspoonground black pepper
Salt to taste
1tablespooncooking oil
1cupwateror, as required to get the desired consistency
Instructions
Put tofu cubes, oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl. Gently toss until all the cubes get evenly coated with the seasonings and oil.
Spread tofu cubes on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet, Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (or, 400℉) for 12-15 minutes or until tofu starts turning golden brown.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and saute until it starts turning brown. Add chopped red chili and the white part of spring onion. Saute for a few seconds.
Next, add sliced onion and cook until it turns translucent.
Add chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and pepper. Mix and cook on medium heat for around 7-8 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy. You may cover the pan to fasten this step.
Pour a cup of water into the pan and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat.
Finally add baked tofu cubes, green onions, and cilantro. Mix and cook for about a minute.
Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Don't remove the lid for 5 minutes.
Serve hot with steamed Jasmine or sticky rice.
Video
Notes
Use firm or extra-firm tofu to make this recipe.
To get rid of the excess water from tofu, press the tofu block using a tofu press. Or, wrap the block of tofu in kitchen paper towels and press it with something heavy like a jar of beans, for at least 15 minutes. When you remove excess moisture from the tofu, it absorbs the flavors of the dish in a better way.
Instead of baking, you can also shallow or deep-fry the tofu cubes until their edges start turning golden brown.
Don't overcook tofu, it will turn chewy.
Mix tofu cubes with the seasonings and oil gently otherwise, the cubes will break.
Fresh tomatoes are the best for this recipe but if you don't have that canned diced tomatoes can be used too.
Use juicy tomatoes otherwise the sauce won't get the right consistency.
You can add a tablespoon of tomato paste for a rich tomato sauce.
I have sliced onion to use in this recipe but you can use chopped onion too, if you prefer smaller pieces of onion in the sauce.
Adding sugar is optional, if your tomatoes are already sweet you can skip it.
More recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.