I remember that every summer when I was a child, my grandmother's vegetable garden was always lively. The red tomatoes hang on the branches, swaying when the wind blows, and you can pick them off with your hands and touch them. You can take a bite of juice. The tofu that Uncle Wang grinded in the village every morning is still hot when delivered in a wooden barrel and softly exudes the aroma of beans.
At that time, my grandmother always said, "Eating tomato sauce and tofu in summer is more comfortable than eating meat." She would move a small stool in the yard, first blanch the tomatoes, peel and dice them, and cut the tofu into square pieces. When the pan smoke came out and the tofu cubes were frying golden brown, I suddenly poured the tomato sauce in. With a "sourcing" sound, the fragrance instantly filled the whole yard.
I can't wait to let it cool down, so I reach out and pinch it into my mouth, so hot that I can't bear to vomit even if I shake my hands. The sweet and sour tomato sauce is wrapped in soft and tender tofu, and it is full of summer comfort when you take a bite. Now that I live by myself, every time I make this dish, I can remember the sunshine and cicadas in my grandmother's yard in one bite.
Although tomato sauce tofu does not have the prominent reputation of court tribute, it hides the dietary wisdom passed down from generation to generation by the people. To talk about the history of tofu, it has to be traced back to the Han Dynasty. After Liu An, the King of Huainan, accidentally invented tofu, this ingredient slowly entered the folk dining table and became a delicious food that every household can afford.
The combination of tomato sauce and tofu was first common in rural areas in the north. In the past, there were few vegetables in winter, and the older generation would boil the ripe tomatoes in summer into thick sauce and store them in clay pots. When the weather gets warmer in spring, take it out and cook it with the tofu. The sweet and sour sauce can not only relieve the lightness of the tofu, but also make you appetizers and serve.
Later, this method slowly spread to the south. Whether it was fried with old tofu from the north or stewed with tender tofu from the south, it could taste good with tomato sauce. For more than a hundred years, this simple home-cooked dish has become the "taste of home" in many people's memory. It does not require complicated craftsmanship, but it hides the most simple delicacy.
A freshly prepared tomato sauce tofu was served on the table, and you could see the golden tofu chunks wrapped in red tomato sauce, which was very attractive. Get closer, the fresh fragrance of tomatoes first penetrated into your nose, mixed with the burnt aroma of minced garlic and the crispy aroma of tofu fried. I couldn't help swallowing my saliva when I smelled it.
Pick up a piece, the skin of the tofu is a little hard and bite it gently, and it is soft inside with some juice. The tomato sauce immediately spread out in the mouth, and the sourness and sourness were just right, neither too light nor too light, and it was wrapped in the tenderness of the tofu, not greasy at all. If there is a lot of soup, mix with rice and wrap each grain of rice with tomato juice, not even two bowls of it, and after eating, I can't help but lick the juice at the corner of my mouth, full of satisfaction.
Ingredients Purchase Guide
1.Tofu: Choose 500 grams of old tofu (northern tofu) and it will not be easy to break when frying. Press it when selecting. The elastic and relaxed ones can restore freshness. The surface should be smooth and odor-free. Priority should be given to the ones that are freshly ground on the same day, which will make the taste more tender.
2. Tomato: Prepare 2-3 pieces about 300 grams, choose bright red color, feel soft when touched, and the stems are fresh and not black. This tomato juice has more water and sweeter flavor. Choose seasonal tomatoes in summer, and they are sweet without sugar; choose greenhouse tomatoes in autumn and winter to avoid hard and fragrant.
3.Other ingredients: 10 grams of minced garlic (select plump and unsprouted garlic), 5 grams of chopped green onion (using fresh shallots), 10 grams of starch (select corn starch or potato starch), seasoning and prepare light soy sauce 15 ml, salt 2 grams, and sugar 3 grams (adjust according to the sweetness of the tomato).
5-step cooking steps
Step 1: Treat the ingredients, remove the beans and taste it
Cut 500 grams of old tofu into 2 cm square pieces, put it in a pot with cold water, add 1 gram of salt, cook on medium heat for 1 minute, remove and drain the water (this step can remove the beans and make the tofu tighter). Screw the tomatoes on top, blanch them in boiling water for 10 seconds, peel them and cut them into small diced garlic and set aside.
Tips: Do not cut the tofu too small, otherwise it will easily break when frying; the sauce produced by peeling the tomatoes is more delicate.
Step 2: Fry the tofu, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside without absorbing oil
Brush a layer of thin oil in the pan, turn on medium-low heat, put the tofu cubes in (don't stack them), fry each side for 2 minutes until the four sides are golden brown. You can feel the outer skin is hard with chopsticks, then pick it out and put it on the oil-absorbing paper to absorb excess oil (more than traditional methods, healthier).
Heat control: Be sure to have a low heat. If the fire is too high, it will easily fry and batter, but it is not cooked.
Step 3: Fry the tomato sauce, the sweet and sour are rich and the sand is produced
Don't wash the same pan, leave a little oil, turn to low heat, add minced garlic to stir-fry to make the fragrance, pour in diced tomatoes, and stir-fry continuously for 3 minutes until the tomatoes come out of sand. Add 15 ml of light soy sauce, 1 gram of salt, 3 grams of sugar, and 50 ml of water and cook for 1 minute to make the sauce thicker.
Innovation points: If you like thicker, you can add 10 grams of tomato sauce, but don't add more to avoid snatching the tomato itself.
Step 4: Wrap the juice, and each piece of tofu is full of flavor
Pop the fried tofu back into the pot and turn it gently (don't poke hard with a spatula), so that each piece of tofu is covered with tomato sauce. Add 10 grams of starch and 20 ml of water to make starch water, pour it in along the pot, and cook for 30 seconds. While cooking, gently push it evenly. The sauce will slowly thicken and wrap it tightly on the tofu.
Details: When turning, move lightly to prevent tofu from shattering; do not pour too much starch water, otherwise the sauce will clump.
Step 5: Use it to add fragrance and instantly enhance the flavor
Drop 2 drops of sesame oil before turning off the heat, sprinkle with chopped green onion, and gently turn it over to let the chopped green onion and sesame oil mix into the sauce, and then serve it on a plate.
Tips: Don't add more sesame oil, a little bit of it can enhance the essence; if you like spicy food, you can add a little millet spicy circle to make the taste richer.
Recently, I found that the "crispy tomato sauce" series is particularly popular, like crispy tomato sauce shrimp and fried eggs with tomato sauce. In fact, it is the same as the core idea of our tomato sauce tofu - crispy on the outside and tenderly wrapped in sweet and sour juice on the inside, and the juice is full of juice!
We can also keep up with the trend and play new tricks. For example, if you are afraid of frying tofu to absorb oil, you can use an air fryer: brush some oil in the tofu cube, bake it at 180℃ for 10 minutes, the crust will still be crispy, low-fat and healthy, especially suitable for friends who want to control sugar and oil.
There is another unpopular tip: wrap a layer of thin starch on the surface before frying the tofu, which is not only not easy to break, but also can absorb the tomato juice more. It tastes all in one bite! Recently I also tried to hold tomato sauce and tofu in bread and put some lettuce to make a breakfast burger. It can relieve greasiness and relieve greasiness. My children like it very much and it is much healthier than the burgers I bought outside.
What side dishes do you like to add when making tomato sauce tofu? I have tried adding green pepper diced before, which crisp and neutralize the softness and tenderness of the tofu; and once again, add soaked black fungus, which makes the taste richer. Is there any friend who like me who always likes to make rice with tomato sauce and tofu soup when he was a child, so he can eat one more bowl?
Come to the comment section and talk about your recipes or memories. If there are better tips, don't hide them. Let's make this home-cooked delicious food even more!
Follow the years of food and taste, and learn more about food.
