Fried Tofu in Tomato Sauce - Happy Canada Day!

Well, you get the idea.

I had been toying with the idea of making something that would be representative of Canada Day for dinner on Friday but decided not to mostly due to lack of ideas. I went for a simple dish since we spent most of the day enjoying the Canada Day festivities which, here in Montréal, featured line dancing and yoga. What could be simpler than some tofu mixed with some tomatoes and onions atop a bed of steamed rice?

Dau Hu Ca Chua
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 package of firm or extra firm tofu, drained and cut into squares or cubes
3-4 tomatoes (I used Roma or Italian tomatoes), diced
1 onion, sliced
1-2 shallots, sliced
1-2 green onions, thinly sliced
1-2 tsp Fish Sauce (Adjust to taste, those tsps are guesses, I just pour from the bottle)
Sugar
Oil

Preparation
First we need to get rid of a lot of the liquid in the tofu. Place some paper towel in a container and place the tofu on the paper towel to absorb the tofu juice. Place something heavy (a bowl full of water) on top of the tofu and let sit for a while. Meanwhile, prep the veggies.

Put a little oil in a pan on medium-high heat and add the onions and shallots. Cook them down for about a minute then add the tomatoes, fish sauce and a sprinkling of sugar. Stir, reduce to low-medium heat and let that cook down.

I like tofu steaks.

Put a tbsp of oil in another pan on high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu and fry until golden brown on both (or all) sides. Set aside on some paper towel to soak excess oil. Once they're all done, add to the tomato sauce pan and let them all stew together. Top off with the green onions, serve on rice.

A delicious mess.

So it turns out this easy recipe I had planned happened to be red and white but I didn't notice it until the next day. I guess I'm just subconciously patriotic though I did notice myself humming the national anthem while making it. Hmm. I'm told this recipe tastes even better when you make your own tofu to put in it and I don't doubt it one bit.

Happy Canada Day!

Well I need these baskets back...