A round white porcelain plate holds golden firm tofu pieces coated in a glossy brown sauce, with minced garlic, red chili, chopped scallion and brown crumbles of ground pork, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Tofu set from soy milk, in soft, firm, dried, fried and frozen forms.
Home-style tofu is firm tofu sliced, fried golden and then tossed with a prepared sauce, garlic, scallion and other aromatics. The Sichuan home-style method uses doubanjiang, soy sauce and sugar; home-style cooking differs from family to family, and one lighter version uses soy sauce, oyster sauce and ground pork. Home-style tofu is a representative Sichuan dish, though its listing gives only the name without a description.
What
Home-style tofu is firm tofu cut into slabs or strips, fried until golden on both sides and then tossed with a prepared sauce, garlic, scallion and other aromatics. “Home-style” means everyday household cooking, not one fixed recipe.2,3
When
No dated record of this dish was found, and there is no reliable account of who made it or where. Views on the origin of tofu itself differ, but that background does not establish a date for this dish.1,2,3,4
Where
Home-style tofu is a representative Sichuan dish, and the Sichuan home-style method uses doubanjiang for seasoning. Home-style cooking differs from family to family. No city of origin was found.1,2,3
How
The tofu is pan-fried on both sides first and the sauce is built separately: the Sichuan way uses doubanjiang, soy sauce and sugar, and the lighter way uses soy sauce, oyster sauce and ground pork. The tofu then goes back into the pan to take up the sauce.2,3
Why
This home-style dish takes little time: one version requires 5 minutes of preparation and 10 of cooking, the other 15 and 15. One of the two versions has no meat and is vegan.2,3
Impact and influence
Home-style tofu is a representative Sichuan dish, though its listing gives only the name without a description. The home-style flavor (jiachang wei) is also among the compound flavor types of Sichuan cooking.1
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is how I make home-style tofu at home: the slices are fried golden first, then simmered briefly with ground pork, garlic and chili in a sauce of soy sauce and oyster sauce. The amounts follow a light-style recipe by a named author on a recipe blog; it has no doubanjiang, so it is not the Sichuan flavor. A second recipe, by another named author, gives a Sichuan version with doubanjiang, and I put its method in the tips. I judge the heat by color and turn the tofu when it is golden.
Ingredients
- Firm tofu 450 g, sliced about 6 mm thick
- Cooking oil 30 ml (2 tablespoons), used in two rounds
- Garlic 2 cloves, minced
- Red chili 1, sliced into rings
- Scallions 3, whites and greens cut in sections and kept apart
- Ground pork 115 g
- Light soy sauce 30 ml (2 tablespoons)
- Oyster sauce 10 ml (2 teaspoons)
- Shaoxing cooking wine 5 ml (1 teaspoon)
- Sugar 1/4 teaspoon
- Water 60 ml
- Salt to taste, added at the end
Steps
- Drain the tofu and cut it into slices about 6 mm thick. Mince the garlic, slice the chili into rings, and cut the scallion whites and greens in sections, keeping them apart.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a pan and lay the tofu slices in a single layer, in two rounds if the pan is crowded. Fry each side until golden before turning, then set the slices aside.
- Add the second tablespoon of oil, fry the garlic, chili and scallion whites until fragrant, then add the ground pork and stir-fry until it has lost all pink and is cooked through.
- Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine, sugar and 60 ml water, and bring to a boil.
- Return the tofu and the scallion greens to the pan and toss gently so the tofu takes up the sauce. Taste, add salt if you like, and serve.
Tips
- Before frying I pat the tofu dry with paper towels and leave it alone in the pan until one side is set and golden before turning. This is my own habit, and I find the tofu sticks and breaks less.
- For the Sichuan flavor, follow the other named author’s Sichuan version: leave out the oyster sauce and pork, fry 2 teaspoons of doubanjiang in the hot oil until the oil turns red, add garlic, ginger slices and scallion whites, then carrot and green chili for about 2 minutes, season with light soy sauce, cooking wine, soy sauce and sugar, and put the tofu back last. That recipe is vegan.
Allergens: soy, wheat, shellfish