Dressed up Tofu, Tao Hoo Song Kreung

I first had this dish more than ten years ago, back then I was not quite a big fan of tofu dishes, and I was hooked right away. My foodie friend ordered it for the table at our getting together party, the next thing I knew, it's become our usual-dish every times we sit and eat together.

It's called Tao Hoo Song Kreung, which is simply translated as a dressed up tofu in English. The word Song Kreung in Thai is used in many meaning involving dressing up in everything - foods, clothes, even hair styles. It means turning ordinaries into an extraordinaries - in anything - put more jewelries, more cloths, more ingredients. As it is in this dish, the plain tofu is dressed up with a varieties of vegetables and meats.



There are many different ways to cook this dish in term of the varieties of ingredients, depends on each kitchen, but the foundation of the dish is the same, which is skin crisped tofu topped with sauté assorted vegetables and meats.

This time I don't have much varieties of the ingredients. I just took what ever vegetable I had in a refrigerator that is good for sauté, as well as the meat, and of course, they made a delicious tofu dish as always.

Not a big fan of tofu? Give this one a chance.



You will need

1. Soft tofu ( look for those with the word "Silken" on the package.
2. Vegetables - broccoli, carrot, snow pea, mushroom you love, asparagus, Chinese cabbage. In a nutshell; what ever vegetables you like. Try choosing the kind that is not easily wilted.
3. Meat of your choices - chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, squid. You can even mix them all together, I am serious. Remember? it is Song-Kreung
4. two cloves of garlic, crushed

Seasoning

1. Soy sauce or Oyster sauce to marinate the meats.
2. 1 tbsp. fish sauce
3. A pinch of sugar
4. 1 tsp. white vinegar
5. ground pepper



I am hungryyyyyy

1. cut up all vegetables into small pieces, do the same with meats, except shrimp
2. Marinate the meats with Soy sauce or Oyster sauce for 10 min.
3. cut tofu into half (you can use all two pieces or use only one piece - how hungry you are)
4. blot tofu with paper towel, let paper towel sucks the water out of tofu, so that it will not splash when it hits the oiled, hot pan.
5. Heat up the pan with the amount of vegetable oil until the oil get very hot.
6. Carefully put tofu into the hot oil to be browned through all sides.




7. Take the tofu off the heat after all sides are browned, and let it sit in a serving plate.
8. Heat up a pan to sauté vegetables and meats.
9. Put in crushed garlic until scented, follow with marinated meats.
10. add two table spoons of water, keep sautéing the meats for three minutes until the pink meats are gone.
11. add in all vegetables, give a quick stir, season with fish sauce, sugar and white vinegar.
12. sauté for two minutes, sprinkle with ground pepper, turn off the heat.
13. Scoop up the sauté onto the resting tofu.
14. serve with fluffy, steamed rice.



15. Yum Yum Yum.