Lunch Club - Dau Hu Nhoi Thit Sot Ca (Pan-Fired Stuffed Tofu with Fresh Tomato Sauce)

I’m beginning to realise how very similar Filipino and Vietnamese dishes are. There was the Pork Belly in Coconut Juice similar to the Pinoy Pork Adobo. And this week Tramy prepared a dish called Dau Hu Nhoi Thit Sot Ca (Pan-Fired Stuffed Tofu with Fresh Tomato Sauce) which is very similar to the Pinoy (Tagalog/Laguna region) Tokwa’t Baboy dish. Tokwa’t Baboy in San Pablo City, Laguna (where I grew up) is also cooked in fresh tomato sauce. I’ve always thought this was some sort of bastardised Spanish dish (with the use of tomatoes and all). Not anymore! It’s probably uniquely Asian. Come to think of it, it is actually similar to the Chinese Ma Po Tofu.



The main differences between the Vietnamese and the Filipino dishes are in the use of large tofu pieces (the Pinoy one uses half a domino size pieces that have been fried) and mince pork (rather than pork belly).



It tasted very familiar and has brought me back to my primary school days in Laguna.

Thanks Tramy!



Here’s her recipe:

Dau Hu Nhoi Thit Sot Ca (Pan-Fired Stuffed Tofu with Fresh Tomato Sauce)

Ingredients

4 large pieces of fried firm tofu (you can get this at any Asian shop)
200g pork mince
3 eschallots chopped (sibuyas Tagalog)
2 Spring onions chopped (use only the green part)
Fish sauce to taste
2 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste
Black Pepper freshly ground
6 medium tomatoes chopped coarsely
2 tablespoon tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water

Procedure

Put the pork mince into a large bowl.
Add the salt, pepper, chopped eschallots and mix well.
Cut the tofu in half. Create a pocket in the tofu by making a slit on the side but not cutting all the way through.
Stuff the mixed pork mince into tofu and set aside.
Heat up the oil in the pan then add the garlic.
Wait for the garlic to turn golden brown than add the remaining ingredients.
Cover and simmer for about ½ hr or until the fresh tomatoes are completely dissolved in the sauce with no chunks left.
Take it off the heat then add the spring onion.
Serve with freshly cooked jasmine rice