Vietnamese Fried Tofu & Pork in Tomato Sauce (Dau Hu Thit Sot Ca Chua)
The first time I tried tofu, I was a kid, and it was straight out of the package (Mom wasn’t looking, and I snuck a taste). I didn’t touch this “abomination” of food again until much later in life, once I’d finally figured out cooking.
- 16 oz firm tofu
- 4 oz ground pork
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 12 oz ripe tomatoes (diced)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 green onion (sliced thinly; whites and greens separated)
- Remove tofu from package. Rinse, drain, and wrap it in 3 layers of paper towels. Apply pressure to squeeze out the excess liquid then unwrap. Make a horizontal cut exactly in the middle and 5 even vertical cuts. This will yield 12 flat square pieces of tofu.
- with oyster sauce, garlic and whites of green onions.
- In a medium pan, heat vegetable oil on medium high. Fry the tofu until golden brown on the top and bottom sides (about 3 minutes per side). Remove tofu from pan and set aside.
- To the empty skillet, add the marinated ground pork and cook for about 2 minutes, while breaking it up.
- Let the tomatoes simmer on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Season with ketchup, fish sauce and ground black pepper.
- Return fried tofu back to the pan. Give it a quick stir and garnish with remaining green onions.
Fast forward to dinner the other night, and I decided to add tofu to my kids’ meal. I expected the same reaction I had as a kid, but to my surprise, they loved it!
They even exclaimed, “This is the best food ever!” Score one for Mom!
Tofu is a great protein option when you’re in a pinch. Honestly, I turned to tofu in my early adulthood because I was too lazy to prep meat, and for once, laziness worked out in favor of healthy eating.
Since tofu is a blank canvas, eating it plain isn’t ideal—it’s best fried and paired with a bold sauce like spicy tomato or teriyaki.
Tofu comes in a variety of firmness. I like to use silken tofu in soups.
My favorite is spicy kimchi stew with silken tofu. It is loaded with bold flavors.
For milder soups, I use medium firm tofu, like in Vietnamese Tofu and Garlic Chive Soup (Canh Dau Hu He).
And sometimes I like to fry up firm tofu and pair it with tomato sauce (Dau Hu Sot Ca Chua), a very common Vietnamese side dish that goes great with steamed rice.
The latter was what we had for dinner with the kids the other night. To further win them over, I added ground pork. Mission accomplished.
Recipe is below for that exact dish that they all loved. Happy cooking!
