Tofu Steak With Mushroom Sauce

Photo: Bebe Love Okazu

Ingredients

Tofu Steak

4 (Serves)

for tofu:

2 packages medium-firm tofu

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)

for mushroom sauce:

1 package enoki mushroom

1 package maitake or shimeji Japanese mushrooms

5 dried shiitake mushrooms

4 fresh shiitake mushrooms

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 teaspoon dried dashi powder (either konbu/seaweed dashi or dried boni

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon potato starch

2 tablespoons water

Preparation

Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 20 – 30 minutes and reserve water.

Wrap tofu in a cheesecloth and let rest for 20 minutes on a cutting board propped at an angle to drain off the water. Or, let tofu rest in a strainer, which is what I ended up doing. Slice tofu block in half, horizontally.

Cook tofu: heat vegetable oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add tofu and fry on each side until brown or desired crispiness. Remove from heat and immediately sprinkle with soy sauce.

Remove bottom part of the enoki mushrooms. Separate maitake and shimeji mushrooms into smaller pieces with your hands. Remove the stems from the shiitake and slice caps.

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a saucepan and briefly cook the mushrooms. Add the reserved shiitake mushroom water, dried dashi, soy sauce and mirin and bring to a boil.

Dissolve potato starch in 2 tablespoons cold water and add to the sauce. As soon as it thickens remove from heat. Corn starch can be substituted for potato starch. I found the sauce to be a little thick, so you might want to play with the water and starch proportions to get the thickness that you would like best.

Transfer tofu to individual serving plates and top with the mushroom sauce.