Today’s Baked Tofu, Broccoli and Shiitake Mushroom recipe is one that most of the time consuming steps can be done ahead of time. Baking the tofu, soaking the mushrooms, blanching the green veggies, and making the sauce. Then when your busy schedule allows you can whip up a tasty and healthy meal in just minutes.
One of the first things in creating a recipe is to admit when an ingredient is not “perfect”. As someone who suffers from gout I have to severely limit my meat consumption. But I still want food with good taste and textures. Which brings us to today main ingredient Tofu. In its natural state it is bland and has a very soft texture. In some recipes the texture is exactly what we want. But for today’s recipe I want more texture along with more flavor.
What I want for today’s recipe is tofu with a firm dry exterior and a chewy center. To achieve this we will bake the tofu. This will give us the texture we want and give the tofu a dry surface. The dry surface will soak up sauce and give the tofu more flavor.
Of course, to give the tofu more flavor we will need a flavorful sauce. In the past, I liked using the oyster sauce and chicken stock but now those are on the bad list. Gout sufferers should restrict shellfish and anything with bone and chicken stock is made with bone.
So we will use dried shiitake mushrooms to create our broth and flavor with hoisin.
To create our broth soak 4 (or more) dried shiitake mushrooms in a three-quarters cup water for at least 2 hours. I usually do them overnight in the fridge. This will hydrate the mushrooms and create a mushroom broth. Do not worry the mushrooms will also go into the dish.
Today we are using broccoli but and green veggie would work. Boc Choi, green beans, brussels sprouts
All that said lets get to cooking. We need 8oz of super firm tofu, since the oven will be on let’s cook the entire one-pound package. We can save the leftover for later. To bake we need to cut the tofu into roughly 3/4 inch cubes. Use a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Place the tofu on the baking sheet with space between the cubes. This will allow airflow around the tofu and help the edges dry out. Bake them at 400F for 40 minutes, turning about half the way thru. If you forget to turn them do not worry they will be fine.
Note: If you can not find super firm tofu buy what you can find and press it to squeeze out more water. To press, it put something flat on top of the tofu and add weight for an hour or so. This will squeeze out more water.
The sauce gets most of its flavor from dried shiitake mushrooms. To start we need to soak some dried mushrooms for a few hours (overnight is better). When your ready squeeze most of the water out of the mushrooms and slice them up. Discarding the hard stems.
For the sauce: Use 1/2 cup of liquid from soaking the mushrooms, 1 Tablespoon Hoisin sauce, 1/2 teaspoon raw sugar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Black Vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon corn starch (more if you want a thicker sauce). Mix all of this up and set it aside.
To keep the green veggies (in this case broccoli) nice and bright we will blanch them. This step is completely optional but makes the dish look so much nicer. Bring a big pot of water to boil when the water is at a rapid boil add the veggies. Sixty seconds after the water comes back to a boil remove the veggies and add to a bowl of ice water. When they are cool place them into a colander to drain.
Chop up one teaspoon garlic, one teaspoon ginger, and one green onion.
Now everything is ready to stir-fry. Place your pan or wok on the burner and turn it up to high, add one tablespoon oil. While the oil is coming up to temperature add your garlic and ginger. This will flavor the oil. When the oil is hot add the sliced mushrooms and green onion. (in the video I did add them a little early but it’s ok).
When the mushrooms start to get some color on them add the sauce and bring to a boil. When it’s at a boil add the broccoli and tofu. Heat everything thru and serve.
Link to the video on YouTube. I did post the video almost one month before posting the recipe here. Work has been super crazy and I just could not find time to write it up. Hopefully, in the new year, I can keep posting more Gout friendly recipes.
Other Tofu recipes that you might like.
Ingredients
Main Stuff
- 8 oz Super Firm Tofu You can press firm
- 4 each Dried Shitake Mushrooms Soaked in Water
- 3 cups broccoli
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger chopped
- 1 each green onions chopped
Sauce
- 1/2 cup Mushroom Broth From Soaking Mushrooms
- 1 Tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon black vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch Can use up to 2 teaspoons for a thick sauce
Instructions
- Cut tofu into 3/4 inch cubes. Place onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 400F for 40 minutes. Turn half the way thru.
- Blanch the green veggies in a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Add to an ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain in a colander until ready to use.
- To make the sauce in a small bowl add 1/2 cup of liquid from soaking the mushrooms, 1 Tablespoon Hoisin sauce, 1/2 teaspoon raw sugar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Black Vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon corn starch (more if you want a thicker sauce). Mix all of this up and set it aside.
- Chop up the garlic, ginger and green onion.
- Place pan on a burner, turn heat to high add garlic and ginger.
- When the oil is hot add the sliced mushrooms and green onion.
- When the mushrooms start to get some color on them add the sauce and bring to a boil. When its at a boil add the broccoli and tofu. Heat everything thru and serve.
This sounds great, James!
Thank you! Getting the tofu to soak up the sauce makes it good.