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TTT: Taiwanese Tofu with Tomato





Ok, the TTT name is my invention, but the recipe is really Taiwanese. Several years ago I had a Taiwanese baby-sitter, she was also vegetarian (in Taiwan there is a strong vegetarian Buddhist tradition) and she didn't cook with garlic, onion, chives and leeks (this is the old Buddhist tradition). She taught me a lot of recipes... no, not recipes, maybe I should say 'ways of cooking'.

This recipe is so basic that I almost thought of not putting it on the blog, but the fact is that it is quite amazing!! In my Italian brain I never thought of combining tomatoes with tofu and soy sauce this way, it didn't feel right, and I was quite skeptical when she showed it to me. And then I tasted it: WOWOWOW, it works!

And not only it works, the kids love it, and it is so easy and quick... and in a way it feels so ... ethical!
Yes, just a few low cost ingredients, not much time or energy needed, and lots of proteins.

I usually used some red ripe tomatoes, but I had some ripe little orange tomatoes to finish, and so they went: cut and placed into the frying pan/wok/pot with a little vegetable oil (olive oil works well) and a small pinch of salt. Of course you could also add garlic, but the original recipe, as I said before, doesn't allow for allium of any type. Cook on high, stirring constantly, when the tomatoes start to mush into a sauce add the cubed tofu, stir and then add one or two tbs of soy sauce (I use only Japanese soy sauce, Kikkoman or Yamasa) or gluten free tamari sauce if you are gluten free, and stir until the tofu is really hot (a couple of minutes only). Top with fresh chopped coriander if you like, and serve immediately with rice or noodles.


Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Comments

  1. Super delicious tofu, i dunno very much about Taiwanese cuisine...

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's soooo cool you have a Taiwanese babysitter! How old were you? Looks really good and yes it's pretty common to use eggs in that dish ,but without it, it tastes still good!

    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, this is my type of recipe (really easy). Do you remove skin and seeds if using larger tomatoes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I like the seeds and even the skins if I fry them up well first :-).

      Delete
  4. This sounds really good! It seems like a great, quick meal too! I'll have to make it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Da buona ignorante non ho mai assaggiato il tofu. Se in un futuro vorrai vivere lontano da tutto ti faccio sapere dove abito! :)
    Ti abbraccio!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks delicious!Buona giornata,carina!

    ReplyDelete

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