RECIPE: Sweet and Savory Meat Tofu

This savory Sweet and Savory Meat Tofu dish is the perfect protein-filled meal to satisfy your appetite! The delicious tofu and pork belly meat will keep you full all day long!

To make it a well-rounded meal, try serving this atop a bowl of hot steamy rice! Serving the meat and tofu with rice will create a traditional Japanese dish called donburi. Donburi simply means rice topped with simmered ingredients such as meat, tofu, or vegetables!

Donburi is an everyday meal enjoyed at home by Japanese people. People love to make donburi as an easy home cooked meal because it has all of the vegetables, protein, and rice for a perfectly balanced meal! It is also easy to put together donburi because you can use any leftover vegetables and proteins in your kitchen.

Donburi is typically covered in its namesake sauce, donburi sauce! This donburi sauce is a quick way to tie all of your ingredients together with a cohesive flavor! Donburi sauce is thick, sweet, and savory all at the same time, making it a favorite sauce for Japanese people to have on hand. The best part of donburi sauce is that it will easily complement any ingredients you chose to put in your donburi bowl!

To add another level of flavor, we recommend using Shichimi Togarashi, a seven spice blend! The delicious combination of chili peppers, citrus, and seaweed will add a pop of taste to your donburi bowl!

Another recipe ingredient to focus on is the tofu. You may be tempted to skip Step 1 to save time but pressing the tofu is an important part of the process. Japanese cooks know the importance of squeezing the water out of the tofu using this method. We promise you will notice the difference in the quality of the recipe after pressing the tofu.

We recommend wrapping your tofu with paper towels and placing a weighted object on top to press the water out gently. You may choose to place a pot or cutting board on top of the wrapped tofu.

As another tip, adjust the size of this simple recipe for a delicious main dish, side dish, or appetizer!

Servings: 2 

Ingredients:

• Half block of tofu
• Oil for cooking
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 150g pork belly
• 35ml donburi sauce
• 15ml water
• Sesame seeds to taste
• Shichimi Togarashi* to taste

Instructions:

1. Wrap the tofu in paper towel and let sit to remove excess water.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion and pork belly. Stir until slightly cooked.
3. Add the Tonton-Byoshi Pork Donburi Sauce and water then simmer. 
4. Add the tofu by separating it into chunks by hand. Cover and simmer for another 5 mins.
5. Serve in a bento or bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or shichimi togarashi.

*Available in our Creative Beginnings: Redefining “Wa” Care Package

Introduction courtesy of Kimberlee Laney

As a Japanese-Korean-American, my love for Japanese food first came from my grandmother's kitchen! Japanese food feels like home and I love being able to cook it anywhere in the world to connect with Japan in my own little way. I love diving deep into the layers of Japanese food and always marvel at the food diversity between prefectures. I'm currently eating my way through Tokyo and taking up photography with my Instagram account @capturingkim!