Veggies and Tofu in Brown Sauce （红烧豆腐蔬菜）

How do you tell someone you don't want to go on a date with them because they write awful poetry? What do you make for dinner after karate when you're really tired and out of sorts? When do these rhetorical questions become ridiculous?

I call this "brown sauce" because that's how it's always translated, but a closer translation is "red baked tofu and vegetables". Based on this recipe.

Ingredients

Tofu marinade

• 1/2 block tofu, cubed
• 1 T. garlic oil
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• about 1/2 tsp sri racha sauce

Vegetables etc.

• 1/2 sweet potato
• 1 summer squash
• 5 mushrooms
• 1 baby bok choy
• 3/4 c. brown rice
• 2 c. water
• a few cloves of garlic
  

Red Sauce

• 3 T. dark soy sauce
• 1 T. kecap manis (sweet Indonesian soy sauce)
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 cube bouillon
• 1 T. vermouth
• 1/2 tsp. sri racha sauce

Methodology

1. Cut up tofu and put in marinade. Cut veggies into similar sized pieces.

2. Start the rice. You can dribble in a little of the tofu marinade for flavour if you want. Heat a wok over high heat with a small amount of oil in it and drop the tofu in. Leave it to brown on one side, then flip and brown the other. You can put some of the marinade on here, too, and let it reduce, or just throw the rest away. When the tofu is done, remove it to a plate.

3. Put a bit more oil in the wok and turn the heat down slightly. Add the garlic, then the mushrooms. When they start to brown, add the bok choi, the sweet potato, and the squash. Stir fry it for a few minutes, then add about 1 c. water and cover; the water will boil, cooking the potatoes. This is especially useful if your pan is small.

4. When the sweet potatoes (the veg needing the longest time) are almost done and the water has boiled off, add the tofu and the sauce. Stir everything together and cook a while longer to let the sauce reduce some. Serve over rice.

Notes

*Good and healthy, but nothing spectacular. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but while I wasn't displeased there also was nothing to make me sit up and take notice. Chinese dishes tend to use only one or two vegetables, which is frustrating for a vegetarian but tends to bring out more of the "essence" of those vegetables, as opposed to "a bunch of vegetables in a bowl".

*3.5/7. Middle of the road.

Pictures forthcoming.