Lindy’s Ono Recipes

Buta Tofu or Pork Tofu is a dish that I make often. I must confess that my family loves shoyu … as a condiment, as a marinade and in dishes. This is one of those dishes that I don’t have a official recipe but I’ll try to concoct it before your very eyes.

Pork Tofu

1 # pork (butt is the best)
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 piece ginger, sliced
2 med onions, sliced
1 can bamboo shoots, sliced
5 shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
won bok, sliced in 2″ pieces
bean sprouts, optional

1/2 c shoyu
1/2 c sugar (white, brown or raw sugar …whatever you like)
2 T sake
2 T mirin
1 c water (add more if too salty and/or you want more sauce)
1 can chicken broth

1 block tofu, cubed

Add a little oil in a wok or pot. Add pork with garlic and ginger and fry till pork is no longer pink. Add the shoyu, sugar, sake, mirin, water and chicken broth. Simmer till pork is tender. You can take out the pieces of ginger at this point. If you used bottled ginger … no problem. You would hate to have people bite into a piece of ginger, thinking it was a slice of pork …yikes!

Add shiitake mushrooms, onions and bamboo shoots. When onions are almost translucent, add the won bok and bean sprouts. When all vegetables are cooked to desired doneness, thicken sauce with cornstarch slurry (mixture of cornstarch and water). Add the tofu ….carefully. I just make sure that they are a little submerged in the sauce. Try not to mix too much… tofu will break and make your dish look messy. When tofu is heated thru, top with green onions and serve.

You can be creative with this dish and add things like konnyaku, canned mini corn, watercress ..whatever you like. You can also substitute chicken for the pork …. making it Chicken Tofu These portions are just a guideline …. modify and make it to suit your taste !!

Sound easy?? It really is …. you can do it !!