portobello mushroom tofu

I threw this dish together the other night to go with Hegui’s kimchi fried rice. We had these stunningly beautiful portobellos from Trader Joe’s. Our original plan was to stuff them but that didn’t seem to match well with the rice. Fortunately I had some Chinese bean sauce, spicy garlic sauce and a vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce lying around. I cut the mushrooms into large cubes and the tofu into bite size ones. The mushrooms shrink with cooking, making the two about equal in size by the time the dish is served.

This dish is earthy, salty and spicy. The textures of the mushrooms and the tofu are nice contrasts. I thought that the color of the final dish was stunning visually, too.

Portobello Mushroom Tofu

black bean sauce and vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce

1 package tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
Kosher salt for tofu “bath” and to taste
4 fresh Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut into large cubes
2 tlbs. oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp garlic chili sauce or similar
2 tsp black bean sauce (I used Lian How Brand)
2 tsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce
Soy sauce to taste

To give the tofu some extra flavor, place tofu cubes in small bowl filled with warm water and about two tsps. Kosher salt. Let sit for about twenty minutes. When ready to cook, drain and rinse.

Sauté mushrooms in a non-stick pan with half the oil for about five minutes or until they have released a lot of their liquid and have shrunk in size. Set aside.

Sauté tofu in same pan with remaining oil for about five to ten minutes until tofu has browned a bit and released some of its water. Set aside with mushrooms.

Add garlic, garlic chili sauce, black bean sauce and oyster sauce to pan. Sauté for about a minute. Add mushrooms and tofu. Fold mushrooms and tofu into sauce. Add some soy sauce and salt if needed. Cover to warm through. Serve with rice.