Silken Tofu With Spicy Sausage Recipe

Updated March 06, 2019

There are many homey Chinese recipes based on simply steaming silken-style tofu and topping it with a simple sauce of sautéed meat with a light gravy. I wondered what would happen if I replaced that meat with some spicy Italian-style sausage from my local American supermarket. It works shockingly well.

Why this recipe works:

Soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in water and using that mushroom water as a sauce ingredients gives it an instant flavor boost.
Traditionally, plain minced pork would need to be marinated for hours to infused with flavor. By using store-bought sausage, the flavor comes already packed in.

Note: It's important to use soft silken tofu for this recipe and to handle it very gently so that it doesn't break apart.

Chinese-American Mashup: Silken Tofu With Spicy Sausage

Recipe Details

Silken Tofu With Spicy Sausage Recipe

Active 25 mins

Total 25 mins

Serves 2 servings

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Ingredients

5 whole dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage (about 2 links), removed from casings and crumbled
4 teaspoons soy sauce, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 (20-ounce) box soft silken tofu
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
Kosher salt
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Steamed white rice for serving

Directions

Combine dried mushrooms and boiling water in a small bowl. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms, squeeze out excess liquid (reserving all liquid), and slice. Set aside mushrooms and liquid.
Combine sausage with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and sugar. Set aside.
Place a steamer insert into a large Dutch oven and fill with 1 inch of water. Bring to a simmer. Upend tofu onto a shallow plate and carefully drain off excess water. Place plate in steamer, cover, and allow tofu to steam until hot, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from steamer, carefully pour or spoon off excess water, tent with foil, and set aside.
Combine reserved mushroom liquid, remaining 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, remaining teaspoon soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix with a fork to combine. Set aside. Heat sausage and sliced mushrooms in a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring and breaking up sausage, until just starting to turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Re-stir sauce mixture then pour into skillet and heat, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute.
Uncover tofu and pour sauce over it. Sprinkle with scallions and cilantro and serve with white rice on the side.

Special equipment

Skillet, steamer

This Recipe Appears In

Chinese-American Mashup: Silken Tofu With Spicy Sausage

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
725	Calories
38g	Fat
58g	Carbs
43g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories	725
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 38g	48%
Saturated Fat 11g	53%
Cholesterol 48mg	16%
Sodium 1452mg	63%
Total Carbohydrate 58g	21%
Dietary Fiber 3g	11%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 43g
Vitamin C 4mg	19%
Calcium 355mg	27%
Iron 6mg	32%
Potassium 840mg	18%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.