This Vegan Vietnamese Tofu and Eggplant (Cà Tím Xào Đậu Hũ) is a really easy recipe to put together. Despite its simplicity, there is so much going for it: the deep earthiness of the black bean sauce, the salty soy sauce, the spicy citrus flavour of the ginger, the sweetness of the palm sugar, all this finally topped with the smoky, nutty sesame oil and the freshness of the spring onions (scallions).
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
That’s before we go into the contrasting textures of the crispy on the outside tofu and tender eggplant.
If you put the rice on before you start, this becomes a 30 minute vegetarian/vegan dinner, the flavour is so strong in this recipe, it’s perfect with a bowl of steaming rice.
I make it fairly often at home, to accompany any Oriental dishes whether Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Singaporean or Malaysian. Click on those links for the individual pages on this site. It goes so well as a side dish to so many dishes.
Vegan Vietnamese Tofu and Eggplant Recipe
It’s a quick recipe, so as always, have everything at hand, ready to go.
The traditional recipe calls for the tofu to be deep fried, but I’ve reduced this down to a light sauté in a couple of teaspoons of oil. You’ll still get the crispy texture, without all the oil.
Black Bean Sauce
In the UK, this is easily available in big supermarkets and you can even find Black Bean Sauce with chilli, my preferred one for this recipe. If using the one with the chilli, omit the fresh chilli from the recipe. Black Bean sauce is used extensively in Chinese, East Asian (Japan, Korea) and South East Asian cuisines and has local names in all these countries.
I think that this topic probably requires a post of its own, I’ll try and get that done asap and link up! Quick word: always read the ingredients and get the one with the most black beans and least “other ingredients”.
Sesame seeds
This is an optional topping and you can toast them if you like but I prefer not to, to preserve the oils within. Adding sesame seeds to this dish also ups your protein intake, always an important thing for vegans or vegetarians.
Toasted Sesame Oil – adds a lovely nutty smoky flavour to the dish, only a small amount is needed.
Gluten Free – use tamari (Japanese soy sauce) in place of regular light soy sauce, or find other gluten free versions. Read more about soy sauces here.
Cooking Time – you can vary the cooking time for the eggplants, depending on how cooked you like them. The second picture in this post shows you a picture of the aubergines only cooked for a total of 5 minutes, and also without the seeds.
Shall we get our aprons on?
More Vietnamese Recipes on LinsFood
If you like the recipe and article, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Vegan Vietnamese Tofu and Eggplant
Ingredients
- 400 g firm tofu
- 2 medium sized aubergines eggplants
- 3 spring onions scallions
- 5 cm ginger
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 1-2 red chillies
- 2 Tbsp black bean sauce
- 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp palm sugar OR ½ tsp regular white
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 dash freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 tsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Cut up the tofu into little cubes, about 2cm (just under 1in) long or so.400 g firm tofu
- Slice the aubergines into 4 long strips, then cut them up into slices, about 1cm (½in roughly) thick.2 medium sized aubergines
- Slice up your spring onion, fairly thinly, as in the pictures and separate the white and the greens.3 spring onions
- Finely chop the ginger and garlic, either with a knife or in a food chopper or even a pestle and mortar.5 cm ginger, 3 medium garlic cloves
- Combine the black bean sauce, soy sauce and palm sugar in a small bowl and keep aside.2 Tbsp black bean sauce, 1 Tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp palm sugar
- Heat a wok up on medium high heat and heat up 2 tsp of the oil.3 tsp vegetable oil
- Fry the tofu on the high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring, to crisp up the tofu, turning them to brown all over.
- Turn out the tofu onto a plate and keep warm.
- Heat another tsp of oil in the wok, still on medium high heat and sauté the white part of the spring onions, the ginger, garlic and chilli for 2 minutes until fragrant. The chillies are going to make you cough. If you like, add the chillies in later with the sauces.1-2 red chillies
- Add the eggplants in, turn the heat up and fry them for 3 minutes, browning and crisping the eggplants up in the process. This caramelises them and provides a lovely smoky, bittersweet flavour.
- Next, add the tofu, the combined sauces, the salt and freshly ground black pepper, stir and bring back to boil.½ tsp salt, 1 dash freshly ground black pepper
- Lower heat down and simmer (just bubbling) for another 5 minutes, at which time your eggplants should be just done. If you like your eggplants mushy, cook them for longer. Check seasoning, add a bit more salt if needed.
- Take off heat and stir in the sesame oil.1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- Serve immediately, garnished with the sesame seeds and green part of the spring onions.1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- Serve it with the rice you cooked, some slices of cucumber or tomatoes or some salad leaves, and you have a complete meal in 30 minutes.
It was ok, nothing special. It needs a lot more sauce, and probably less salt, or a less slaty sauce.
Shame you thought so. I make this very frequently as it’s one of our favourite vegetable dishes. And it’s meant to be a dry-ish side dish.
It was delicious.
Pleased to hear that, Jill!
Been cooking eggplant and todu together but yours is more appetizing. Will follow this.
Thank you!