Steamed Chinese Eggplant over Super Firm Tofu
Tender steamed Chinese eggplant and crunchy sugar snap peas in a spicy garlic sauce over softened super firm tofu. A protein-packed vegan dinner for two!
Equipment
- 1 small saucepan for heating oil
- 1 steamer pot for boiling tofu and steaming eggplant
Ingredients
Tofu
- 1 package super firm tofu 454 g, cut lengthwise into 4 flat slabs
- 4 cups water, or enough to submerge the flat slabs 1 L
- 1 teaspoon salt 6 g
- 2 teaspoon baking soda 12 g
Eggplant mixture
- 1 Chinese eggplant 300 g, about 4 cups cut; or ½ globe eggplant
- 2 to 3 cups water 473 to 710 mL, for the soak
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar 30 mL, for the soak
- 23 sugar snap peas 85 g, about 1 cup sliced
Sauce
- 2 to 4 stalks green onions 40 g, about ½ cup chopped
- 3 cloves garlic 10 g, about 1 tablespoon minced or crushed
- 8 to 10 dried Chinese chili peppers 8 g, cut into strips; or 1 tablespoon gochugaru
- 2 tablespoon peanut oil 30 mL
- ¼ teaspoon sugar 1 g
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 15 mL, or 1 to 1.5 tablespoon tamari
- 1 tablespoon Zhenjiang black vinegar 15 mL
Non-Spicy Substitute for Dried Chinese Chili Peppers
- 1 piece fire-roasted red pepper 40 g, about ¼ cup minced
Before you start
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Instructions
- Prep the vegetables and aromatics. Cut 1 Chinese eggplant into bite-sized chunks, about ¾ x ¾ x 1 inch (about 2 x 2 x 2.5 cm), then soak them in 2 to 3 cups water with 2 Tbsp white vinegar until you’re ready to steam. Remove the strings from 23 sugar snap peas and slice them; they stay raw for crunch.Chop 2 to 4 stalks green onions, and mince or crush 3 cloves garlic. Cut 8 to 10 dried Chinese chili peppers into strips with food-grade scissors or a knife. Add the garlic, green onions, and chili peppers to a small heatproof bowl.
- Make the sauce. Heat 2 Tbsp peanut oil over high heat in a small saucepan. Test it with a dry bamboo or wooden chopstick; small bubbles should form quickly around the chopstick when the oil is ready, about 2 to 2.5 minutes (I recommend using a timer). Turn off the heat and carefully pour the hot oil over the aromatics, focusing on the garlic and chili peppers. Add ¼ tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp light soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp Zhenjiang black vinegar, then mix.Non-spicy option. If using a fire-roasted red pepper instead, mince it and add it to the bowl of aromatics after pouring in the hot oil.
- Boil the tofu. Cut 1 package super firm tofu lengthwise into 4 flat slabs. Add 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp baking soda to a pot with 4 cups water, or enough to submerge the flat slabs, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the slabs and keep boiling over high heat for about 7 minutes. Take the tofu out, drain it, and set it aside.
- Steam the eggplant. Bring the water in your steamer pot to a boil. Once it boils, drain the eggplant from its vinegar soak and steam over high heat for 5 minutes. Remove it promptly after 5 minutes so it doesn’t keep cooking.
- Dress the vegetables. Combine the steamed eggplant (keep the juice!) and the raw sugar snap peas in a large bowl. Pour in the sauce and gently toss.
- Assemble and serve. Plate 2 boiled tofu slabs and spoon about half of the eggplant mixture over them. Assemble the other serving the same way, or save it for another meal.
The vinegar soak helps keep the eggplant purple. If you don't care about the color, skip it! In testing this recipe, I found that soaking longer made no difference in color or taste, so I stopped timing the soak.
Boil the tofu first, then steam the eggplant using the same pot of water. I boil the tofu first because the water turns brown after steaming the eggplant, which can affect the color and taste of the tofu.
Use the same water you boiled the tofu in, and don’t add more. The tofu boiling water can get foamy and rise aggressively, and if the eggplant ends up "boiling" in it (see the middle photo), it will turn discolored and unappetizing (see the rightmost photo).
Notes
Cronometer:
- Search for "Steamed Chinese Eggplant over Super Firm Tofu (Atypical Fare)"
- Use as is or make a swappable and adjustable copy in your account by clicking the "..." in the top right, then "Edit a Copy."
- By weight, sodium is about 39% of salt and about 27% of baking soda per the USDA. So a 1 L boil with 6 g salt and 12 g baking soda holds about 2,360 mg and about 3,280 mg of sodium, respectively, totaling 5,640 mg, or about 5.6 mg per gram of water.
- In testing, each slab gained about 6 g after boiling, resulting in an increase of 33.6 mg of sodium per quarter slab, 67.2 mg per serving (2 quarter slabs), or 134.4 mg per package.
- 134.4 mg of sodium is about 0.35 g of salt (i.e., 134.4/39%), which is added and accounted for in the Cronometer recipe.
- My hypotheses and measurements may not be complete or precise; this is for reference only.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 545kcal | Carbohydrates: 23.2g | Protein: 41.2g | Fat: 32.8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 725.2mg | Potassium: 775.5mg | Fiber: 10.9g | Sugar: 8.3g | Calcium: 200.1mg | Iron: 9.1mg
Nutrition is hand-calculated using Cronometer, and should be treated as an estimate only. Values can vary based on the ingredients, brands, and quantities you use. For the most accurate results, please calculate the nutrition using the exact ingredients you use, or consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian.
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