Red-Cooked Tofu

Red-cooking is a traditional Chinese braising technique that uses soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine to flavor the food and give it a dark red color. If you're not a big tofu fan, this easy, aromatic stew might change your mind.

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  4 medium scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts separated)
  
  


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  2 medium carrots, cut into small dice
  
  


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  1 cup lower-salt chicken broth or (preferably homemade) vegetable broth
  
  


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  6 Tbs. reduced-sodium soy sauce; more as needed
  
  


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  1/4 cup Shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine) or dry sherry
  
  


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  1-1/2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
  
  


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  2 tsp. granulated sugar
  
  


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  Freshly ground black pepper
  
  


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  2 14-oz. packages firm tofu, cut into 1-inch pieces
  
  


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  2 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
  
  


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  2 tsp. arrowroot or cornstarch
  
  

In a large saucepan, combine the scallion whites, carrots, broth, soy sauce, Shaoxing, ginger, sugar, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring once or twice. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add the tofu, cover, and continue to simmer gently until the tofu is heated through and has absorbed some of the other flavors, 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar and arrowroot until smooth and then stir the mixture into the stew, taking care not to break up the tofu. Stir gently until thickened, about 1 minute. Add more soy sauce to taste, sprinkle with the scallion greens, and serve.