Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce, dau hu nhoi thit in Vietnamese, is a simple dish made with just 5 ingredients. With this easy recipe, you can have a delicious home cooked dinner on the table in just an hour!
Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce (dau hu nhoi thit)
I’m sharing with you today one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes from my childhood. As I was growing up, my grandmother did all of the cooking. Each meal was always freshly prepared, lunch and dinner, and there was hardly ever the same meal in one week. There were just so many wonderful dishes, like this Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce, dau hu nhoi thit, Vietnamese Braised Pork with Egg, and beef stew served up with freshly baked bread.
As you can probably tell, I was a well-fed kid, and there was never a lack of food. I really wished I would have paid more attention in the kitchen and learned how to cook Vietnamese food properly. But at the time, I didn’t know food was going to become such a big part of my life. So now most of my Vietnamese cooking is based on trial and error, and just pure experimentation to achieve the taste that I remember.
Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce | dau hu nhoi thit Recipe Tips
- I usually make this recipe using just 1 block of tofu, so my finished product is a mixture of stuffed tofu and meatballs in tomato sauce; this will serve 4. If you want to stretch your meal, use two blocks of tofu, this will yield mostly stuffed tofu and serve 6.
- You will need to fry the stuffed tofu and meatballs in batches, don’t crowd the pan too much when frying.
- Use a splatter screen to protect yourself from splashing oil while frying the tofu since it’s been soaked in water.
- Serve this over white or brown rice for a complete meal.
How to Serve Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu | dau hu nhoi thit
It is best to serve this Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce, dau hu nhoi thit, over rice. You can wash the rice and set it in the rice cooker just before you start cooking. It should take about 20 minutes or so to cook the rice. So by the time you finish making this dish, your rice should also be ready. You can garnish with more green onion, we also like to drizzle a bit of sriracha hot sauce over the dau hu nhoi thit for a little kick. I hope you enjoy!
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Vietnamese Stuffed Tofu in Tomato Sauce | dau hu nhoi thit
🥘 Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 14 ounces firm tofu (1-2 packages of tofu)
- 2 lb roma tomato
- 2 stalk green onion sliced
- 1/2 cup frying oil
- Salt and pepper
🔪 Instructions
- Wash the tomato, pat dry and cut each into 8 pieces.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the ground pork with half of the chopped yellow onion, 1/2 heaping teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
- Divide the pork mixture into 1 oz balls, about 16 to 17 meatballs.
- Open the tofu package, drain and pat dry. Cut each tofu block into 8 slices. Cut each slice in half leaving about 1/4” at one side such that it opens up like a book.
- Flatten one meatball and stuff one slice of tofu with the meatball.
- Repeat the process for all the tofu slices. If using two blocks of tofu, you may have just one meatball left over. If using just one block of tofu, you will have a mixture of stuffed tofu and meatballs.
- Add frying oil to a frying pan with higher side to avoid too much splashing, heat over high heat.
- When the oil is hot, fry the stuffed tofu for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove them to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb the excess oil when finished.
- Fry the plain meatballs just until brown on each side if using, about 1 - 2 minutes. Remove them to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb the excess oil when finished.
- Remove most of the oil, leaving just 1 tablespoon in the pan, add the rest of the chopped yellow onion and cook over medium heat until translucent.
- Add the cut up tomato and cook until a sauce form but tomato pieces are not completely disintegrated. Season with salt and pepper, start with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and adjust to taste.
- Add the stuffed tofu and meatballs back into the sauce and let simmer for 10 minutes longer to allow the flavor to meld together.
- Just before taking the pot off the heat, stir in a hand full of sliced green onion.
- Reserve some green onion for garnish if desired.
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