One-Pan Hunan Tofu (with chicken and mushrooms)

Did someone say Asian for dinner? Kidding, *I* did. I’m the first one who always does, to be honest. Anyone who knows me personally, knows exactly what takeout I will order in on every game night every week. In Calcutta, which is home to a rooted Chinese population, authentic Chinese and Indo-Chinese have come together to form one of the best gifts to the taste buds.

While we have our fair share of eating houses in Central Kolkata and Tiretti for a quick meal from office or university on one hand, on the other, we have our well-guarded, celebratory, authentic Calcutta Chinese in our very own Chinatown in Tangra. Beyond the peccant indulgence in copious amounts of appetizers at Golden Joy or the mysteriously accurate Cantonese broths at D’Ley, lie the more written about, the highly regarded chains of ‘Oriental’ masters that call this city home, the ones we save for, you know, special occasions – Mainland China, Haka, and Chowman. We might sometimes question why they’re expensive, but we certainly don’t question the food’s worth. The discourse of what is more authentic and truly Chinese and ‘good’ is a problematic one for me. If you truly love Asian, you’re probably not going to pit one take on a cuisine against the other for the sake of a petty fidelity discourse (thank you, Ugly Delicious).

Therefore, I found myself on my 38th day of quarantine, hoping to use some good firm tofu to recreate the few times I had tasted the cloudy magic of silken tofu in some of my favourite places in the city. As you might have gathered from my previous post, I was unfamiliar with this incredible ingredient, and the utter lack of confidence in handling this new texture, inspired me to completely abandon all recipes and dive headfirst into it.

To my surprise, I ended up with a recipe that I can not only call my own, but one that tastes like the ultimate feeling of comfort and satisfaction, in that the flavours turned out just like Chowman! The layered taste of the hot hunan gravy balancing the mild sweetness of the tofu and the honey, took me back to the many meals I ordered in for a quick fix to my never-ending Asian cravings!

Here’s hoping from the bottom of my heart that this finds you in the middle of your Chinese food cravings and you give this super easy recipe a chance. 🙂

Ingredients

• Silken Tofu (firm) – 350 grams – sliced
• Button mushrooms (large) – 4/5 pieces – sliced
• Boneless chicken breast – 1 – diced
• Garlic cloves – 8 – peeled and halved
• Sichuan chilli or dried red chilli – 4 – soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
• Scallions – 4/5 stalks – white and green parts chopped separately
• Freshly grated ginger – 1 inch
• Soy sauce (dark) – 1 tbsp
• Oyster sauce – 2 tsp
• Honey – 2 tbsp
• Water – 1/2 cup
• Star anise – 2 pieces
• Sesame seeds
• Salt
• Pepper
• Flour
• Sesame / Peanut / Light Vegetable oil

Method

• Line up the sliced tofu on the serving dish.
• Prepare the diced boneless chicken pieces with some salt and pepper and coat them lightly in some flour.
• For the fresh chilli garlic paste, take the stalks off the soaked dry red chillis and discard them. Put four cloves of garlic, the red chillis and a tablespoon of water into a grinder and blend it into a paste.
• In a medium depth, flat bottom skillet or pan, heat about 4 tablespoons of sesame/peanut/any light flavoured vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add a piece of star anise, the remaining chopped garlic and the chopped green scallions. Sauteè for a minute.
• Add the sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt, cook till the mushrooms are all coated in the oil and begin to only slightly soften.
• Add the coated chicken to the pan and cook till the meat is no longer pink of the outside.
• Add the chilli garlic paste to the pan and coat all the mushrooms and chicken well, stir frying till the spices are aromatic.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl, prepare the mixture of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey, grated ginger, and water. Add broken up pieces of another anise to this broth. You could add a teaspoon of vinegar if you want some acidity to cut through the heat of the dish.
• Add the broth to the pan and bring to a slow boil. Then, simmer for 5 minutes.
• Once the pan-braised gravy is ready, pour it over the tofu in the serving dish, ensuring that the broth covers all of the tofu generously.
• Sprinkle with the chopped green scallion and sesame seeds.
• Serve hot with steamed rice or jasmine rice.

Let me know how this turns out for you!

Tip: In case you don’t have tofu, give this dish a try without the tofu, just for the incredible flavours ! Go low on the red chillis if hot food is an assault to your taste buds.