Three Cup Tofu (San Bei, 三杯豆腐)
This Taiwanese Three Cup Tofu is packed with fragrant ginger, garlic, and fresh basil leaves in a savoury, sticky, and somewhat sweet sauce. Three Cup or San Bei (三杯) is composed of three key ingredients: sesame oil, soy sauce, and cooking wine. It doesn’t require 3 cups of each but usually equal parts of each are used.The sauce is delicious savoury and slightly sweet that pairs perfect with rice. The sauce goes so well in a variety of different dishes and for this version, it’s cooked with pieces of tofu. The fresh Thai basil gives this dish even more flavour and texture.
Ingredients
Tofu
- 20 oz extra firm tofu , frozen and thawed
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Garlic powder
- Ground pepper
Coating
- 5-6 tbsp corn starch plus more as needed
- Garlic powder
- Ground pepper
For Frying
Stir-Fry
- 3 tbsp roasted or dark sesame oil (I actually used Korean sesame oil)
- 6 thin slices fresh ginger
- 8 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 scallion sliced - green and white parts separated
- 3 tbsp light or regular soy sauce
- 3 tbsp Shaoxing wine or Michiu wine (see notes)
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar adjust to taste
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 dried chiles or red chiles optional for heat
- Handful fresh basil leaves , leaves removed from the stems
To Serve
- Steamed rice
Instructions
Prepare the Tofu
- I froze my block of extra firm tofu. I simply froze it in its packaged. So there’s no need to drain the water. The water inside the tofu will expand as it freezes and create these layers that’ll give the tofu a ‘meatier’ texture.
- To prepare the tofu, make sure to completely thaw your tofu the day before you plan to use it. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the tofu. It’s a sponge at this point so you’ll want to squeeze out all the water so it can absorb the seasonings.
- Carefully break apart the tofu into large chunks. You can also chop this. Be very careful with the tofu since it’s very brittle at this point.
- Once the tofu are in chunks, season it with soy sauce, garlic powder, and pepper. Toss to coat well. Leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes.
Coating
- Meanwhile, prepare the coating. In a large bowl, mix together the corn starch, garlic powder, and ground pepper.
- Add each piece of tofu into the corn starch mix. Coat each piece well. If you need more corn starch, you can add more as needed.
Cooking the Tofu
- In a wok or non stick pan, heat some cooking oil. If you want to deep fry the tofu, add enough oil to submerge 3/4 of the tofu. You can also shallow fry the tofu on a non-stick pan with less oil - but this will take a longer time.
- Heat the oil over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot (you can test it out with a small piece - it should sizzle immediately), add in the tofu. Cook the tofu for 2-3 minutes on each side or until lightly golden and crisp. Transfer the tofu into a metal strainer with catch basin to drain excess oil or place on a cooling rack.
- You remove the oil from the pan/wok and use this for the stir-fry.
Stir-Fry
- Heat the same wok or pan over medium high heat. Add in the sesame oil.
- Once hot, stir-fry the ginger, garlic, and white part of the scallions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes until the scallions start to brown at the edges.
- Add the soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sugar, and water. Leave to come to a boil, around 2-3 minutes. The sauce will start to thicken from the sugar. Add the dried chiles (if using).
- Add the fried tofu and then coat in the sauce. The sauce will continue to thicken to coat the tofu.
- Add in the basil leaves. Toss to cook the basil. Turn off the heat.
Serve and Enjoy
- Serve this and enjoy immediately while still hot. This is best enjoyed with steamed rice.
WATCH Video
Notes
COOKING WINE
- Shaoxing wine is a darker brown in colour, while Michiu is a clear white cooking wine. I would recommend to use Shaoxing wine since it has a stronger flavour (it also contains a small amount of salt) than Michiu.
- Both these wines are commonly used in Chinese and Taiwanese cooking. If you don't have access to these wines, you can opt to use Japanese sake.
- If you can't consume alcohol, you can opt to use 1.5 tbsp vegetable broth or stock instead.
DO I HAVE TO FREEZE THE TOFU?
- You can opt to skip the freezing process and immediately just press your tofu straight from the packaging. Do note that the texture will be different compared to the frozen tofu.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 1099mg | Potassium: 296mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 2mg
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