Flavor-Packed Char Siu Tofu in 20 Minutes
This unconventional method leads to a rich tasting vegan take on char siu pork
Hello there!
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate the holiday. I hope your meals are fun and lavish today. Maybe they included Chris’s Hot Rolls in lieu of traditional hot cross buns?
Continuing our exploration of easy paths to char siu heaven, today, I’m sharing a char siu tofu recipe with you. I included char siu cauliflower and char siu pulled green jackfruit recipes in Ever-Green Vietnamese to mimic the textures and salty-sweet-spicy flavors of char siu pork. The char siu roasted cauliflower (page 227) is one of the most popular recipes in the book, which also has a steamed bao recipe so you can slide the cauli into the bun for a vegan char siu sandwich.
Can you char siu anything? Yes and no. I wouldn’t char siu seafood, for instance. And just because you can char siu something doesn’t mean it will taste good (char siu chicken breast is not very exciting tasting).
However, tofu takes well to char siu well if you cook it appropriately so that the flavors of the marinade successfully penetrate the tofu. You also don’t want the result to be dry, which is why the chicken breast notion is no bueno. Char siu should have a certain rich quality, taste kind of sinful because the flavors are bold and you eat small amounts, theoretically.
And so that’s what I went for in this char siu tofu recipe. It’s tofu with char siu seasonings but there’s a certain richness in the result that evokes the fattiness of pork belly.
I know, that sounds gross to a vegetarian or vegan, but Asian vegetarian cooking often aims to mimic some kind of meat eating experience. This is not a trompe l'oeil in looks but the texture and silkiness and flavor of the tofu is highly satisfying without weighing you down. If you’re not into that, then just know that I, a meat eater, love this char siu tofu.
When you make this tofu, you’ll get that glazed quality that makes char siu exciting. I slightly undercooked some of what you see above to test reheating.
Reheating char siu tofu is important because you’ll likely want to double the batch. It keeps for days so it’s great for lunch boxes and easy dinners.
Just this week, our char siu tofu found its way into a few Chris’s hot rolls for char siu tofu sliders! There was also char siu tofu banh mi with experimental whole grain baguette the I’ve been tinkering with for months. And I add some into a bowl of quick noodle soup (broth, greens from the garden, rice noodles, salt, a drizzle of fish sauce and the tofu).
In this dispatch, expect:
A technical explainer on how the recipe works to infuse tofu with char siu-ness
My recipe development tips for selecting tofu
The detailed recipe in full text and the PDF download for your file
An easy Char Siu Marinade chart (conveniently repeated here so you don’t have click to find it)
And, if you have questions, you know I’ll answer them!