Filipino Tofu Adobo (Adobong Tokwa)

A bowl with fried tofu cooked down in sauce

5 from 13 votes

This Vegan Tofu Adobo or Adobong Tokwa is a vegan take on the classic Filipino dish, that’s commonly cooked using chicken or pork. This version uses tokwa, which is tofu in Filipino that I sliced into cubes and pan-fried to crisp before cooking down adobo-style. It’s packed full of flavour with the tofu acting like sponges and absorbing all the flavour. You can’t pass off on rice with this dish!

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Course Main Course

Cuisine Filipino, Southeast Asian

Servings people

Calories 262 kcal

Ingredients

450 g extra firm tofu or tokwa
3-4 tbsp neutral oil see notes
12 cloves garlic (or more if you’d like!), crushed and peeled
1 medium red onion sliced into squares
1/2 to 1 tsp whole pepper if you love whole pepper corns, feel free to add more!
4 dried bay leaves or laurel leaves
2-3 tbsp soy sauce (see notes if gluten-free)
2-3 tbsp distilled white vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable broth or stock
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2-1 tbsp sugar adjust to taste (I used coconut sugar)

To Serve

Sinangag (Filipino Fried Garlic Rice)
Plain Rice

Instructions

Press your tofu to remove excess water. Slice into cubes or shape of your choice.
Heat a large non-stick pan or skillet. Add a generous amount of oil. Pan-fry or deep fry the tofu in neutral oil until golden brown and crisp on all sides.
Move the tofu to the side of the pan. If you want to lessen the oil, feel free to remove some from the pan. But be generous with the oil since adobo is traditionally quite fatty in the sauce from the cooked down meat (especially if using pork belly).
Add in the onions, garlic, and whole pepper corns. Leave the garlic and onions to cook until tender, around 3-4 minuets.
Add the bay leaves, soy sauce, vinegar, and vegetable broth. Mix well and leave to simmer over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
Add in sugar and dark soy sauce, if using. Taste the sauce and feel free to adjust to your taste. You can add more soy sauce for saltiness, vinegar for more acidity, or sugar for a hint more sweetness. This is really depending on your desired taste. I love a nice kick of acidity for my adobo that’s greatly balanced with some sugar.
Leave the tofu to cook in the sauce for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce has reduced. The longer the tofu sits in the sauce the tastier it gets because tofu absorbs the sauce really well (like a sponge!)
Serve and enjoy your adobo with some Sinangag (Fried Garlic Rice) –homemade recipe here or plain rice. Enjoy!

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Notes

OIL

I used vegetable oil for this recipe.
3-4 tbsp may seem like a lot but do note that this also helps mimic the fattiness from traditional adobo that usually uses pork and chicken, that naturally release oils form the fats when cooked down.
But of course you can opt to use less oil especially if you’re using a non-stick pan and can get the tofu crisp without using much oil.

TOFU: FREEZING TOFU

You can opt to freeze your tofu. This creates a meatier texture. No need to press the tofu before freezing.
You can also freeze the tofu in its original packaging.
To freeze tofu before cooking: No need to press your tofu. I froze a whole block overnight on a tray because I slice the large blocks into slabs and then left this to completely thaw in room temperature before slicing into 1.5-inch cubes. Make sure to press your tofu well to get rid of excess liquid.
To prepare the tofu for this adobo: pan-fry or deep fry the tofu cubes in neutral oil until golden brown and crisp throughout. Then you can simply cook these the same way as the steps below.

SOY SAUCE

If you're gluten-free, you can use tamari. Do note that it'll slightly alter the overall flavour so you may need to season it with some salt or lessen the sugar to achieve a level of saltiness you'd like.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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