Stir-fried Tofu with Eggplant and Basil

This recipe is similar to stir-frying in Thai cooking.  It is easy to replace meat with tofu and make it a vegan dish.  The ingredients are so adaptable, depending on what is available in your kitchen. The sauce for stir-fried Thai cooking always includes fish sauce and soy sauce.  However, this is a vegan dish, so I am not using fish sauce for this recipe.  The oyster sauce is also vegan.  This dish will satisfy anyone who is a stern critic of taste.  To make tofu taste like meat, I use firm tofu and freeze it for a few hours or overnight.  Tofu comes in blocks, so slice the tofu to make it easy to squeeze out the water.  Let’s make this wonderful dish.

Ingredients:

 15 oz. firm tofu

2 Japanese eggplants

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup diced white onions

1 cup of loose basil leaves

3 tbsp oil for stir-frying

Stir-fried sauce ingredients:

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 kaffir leave thinly sliced

1 cup water or vegetable broth

To serve with hot cooked rice

Directions:

Remove and drain the tofu.  Slice it into slices, place them in a container, and freeze them overnight or for a few hours.  After the tofu has been frozen, please remove it from the container and let it thaw on the counter.  Squeeze out all the water—diced tofu into small pieces.

Wash the eggplants and cut them into small dice, about 1 inch long.

In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a wok, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add tofu.  Stir-fry until almost cooked through the season during cooking time.  Add Eggplant and continue to cook the eggplants.  Stir in the sauce and cook for 10 minutes. 

Add the white onions and cook for three more minutes, then add the basil. Give it a quick stir to combine, then turn off the heat.