Chop Suey with Tofu and Shiitake Mushrooms is a stir-fry dish made with tender-crisp broccoli, carrots, cabbage, tofu, and mushrooms. It’s a healthy, delicious and vegan you’ll feel good serving the whole family.
Growing up, I was what you would call a Dennis the Menace, a little rascal. It was not that I got myself into any major trouble but I was into enough mischief to have my mother pulling her hair in exasperation.
I was certainly the favorite of the nuns and teachers in school, all for the wrong reasons.
I was the student who excuses herself for a restroom break and skips class altogether. Or the student whose homework the dog always ate. Most days, I would sit in the very back row of the room and while the teacher lectured, I would gossip incessantly with classmates, doodle caricatures on my notebook or daydream about that boy whose name I no longer recall. And then, of course, the teacher would announce a pop quiz and I would be scrambling to find out what she was talking about the whole time. Ahhh, the nonchalance of youth. Fun times indeed.
Well, folks, I hope you were paying attention when I shared with you how to properly fry tofu. Because today, we are going to use your newly-acquired tofu-frying skills to make Chop suey with tofu and shiitake mushrooms.
Firm tofu is the delicious backbone of this dish as well as the protein alternative so we want them golden and crisp!
I have another Chop suey recipe on the blog which uses chicken, liver, quail eggs and oyster sauce for flavoring. The sauce is flavored with a light vegetable stock made from the liquid used to poach the vegetables and the liquid used to soak the mushrooms. This is a healthy and delicious veggie stir-fry you’ll feel good serving the whole family!
This chop Suey with tofu and shiitake mushrooms is a very quick and easy dish to pull together. The key element of this recipe is to blanch the vegetables to maintain texture and color. Make sure they’re drained very well so the excess liquid doesn’t thin the sauce.
Chop Suey with Tofu and Shitake Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 package (12 ounces) tofu
- 6 pieces Shiitake mushrooms
- 1 broccoli crown, cut into florets
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut thinly in a bias
- 1/2 small cabbage, cut into pieces
- water
- oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Remove tofu from packaging and drain from packing liquid. Wrap in paper towels, set on a wire rack or colander and weigh down with a saucer for about 15 to 20 minutes to extract moisture. Cut into 1-inch cubes.
- In deep, wide pan, heat about 2-inches deep of oil until very hot but not smoking. Add tofu in batches and cook, turning as needed, until golden and crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and drain on paper towels.
- In a bowl, soak mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups of warm water for about 15 to 20 minutes or until softened. With hands, squeeze mushrooms to extract liquid. Reserve 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Trim mushroom stems and cut caps into halves.
- Fill a bowl halfway with ice and enough water to cover ice. Add ½ teaspoon salt for each quart of water. Set aside.
- In a sauce pan, add 3 cups of salted water and bring to a boil. Add carrots and cook for about 1 minute or until half done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into bowl of ice bath. Add broccoli to the boiling water and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until half done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into bowl of ice bath. Add cabbage to the boiling water and cook for about 30 seconds or until half done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into bowl of ice bath. Reserve 2 cups of the poaching liquid (the one used to blanch vegetables). Drain vegetables from the ice bath when they are cold.
- In a wok or wide skillet or medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened.
- In a bowl, combine reserved 1 cup of poaching liquid (from par-boiling vegetables), 1 cup of the soaking liquid (from soaking mushrooms), and cornstarch. Stir until cornstarch is well dissolved. Add to wok and bring to a simmer until slightly thickened.
- Add parboiled vegetables, fried tofu, and Shiitake mushrooms, stirring to combine, and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
I made my first chop suey thru this! I was so proud of myself! Hahaha. It turned out really good! It looked and tasted like in a restaurant’s! Or far better. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Laurice. I am glad the recipe worked well for you. Yes, homemade is always better 🙂
The vegetable stock came out good, but I think 2 cups of the stock+ 1 cup of the mushroom liquid is too much that it wasn’t able to thicken with the cornstarch. Still tasted great even though it was more like a soup. Hehe
Hello Ruby,
Where the vegetables drained well? It came out just right for me but please, feel free to modify according to your preferences. Thank you for the feedback 🙂