It’s a dish I enjoyed a lot growing up, that mom and grandma could whip up in half an hour. And if you can buy pre-fried tofu, you can probably cut that time in half!

What is Đậu Sốt Cà Chua?

Đậu sốt cà chua is very much one of those at-home-cooking vibes kind of food and one of my favorite comfort foods! A version I had occasionally was tofu filled with ground pork too. As a kid I ate the meatless version on this page a lot, but never even considered the work my parents or grandma would put into making this (I appreciate it much more now). Our family was lucky to have delicious meals prepared for them every day of the week. The food was pretty important since it was something that brought our family (now in many different households) together. A few years after one of my uncles moved out, he came back asking grandma for this recipe–he missed it! Even a super simple dish like this remains out of reach until you can get a quick run-through. Let’s get to it!

The deep fried tofu

I like to use firm tofu for this, silken ones will be super delicate to handle for deep frying. I also try to get organic tofu whenever possible. If you happen to live near a Vietnamese or Asian community where you can buy freshly made tofu the morning it was made, it is amazing for this recipe. We have some spots that sell this near us in Orange County, CA, and San Jose, CA too, but in this recipe we’ll use the typical supermarket variety.

Cut the tofu

Cut into smaller pieces and dry on paper towels or in a basket over the sink for 20-30 minutes. We want to remove the excess moisture from the tofu–this stuff literally is packed in water and is very water-heavy. Removing the water at this point helpd avoid oil splatter during frying.

Deep fry the tofu

I fried these in vegetable oil (any neutral oil will work), keeping the temperature at 300 °F (148 °C) using my Polder Thermometer. Let the temperature hit 300 °F before adding any tofu though. It should take 2-4 minutes until they brown. Like anyone else in a hot tub, these guys like to bunch together and stick, so move them around a little after adding to the pot before it’s safe to leave them unattended. Were’ just looking to develop a nice, crispy skin on the tofu, without burning it. Once it looks around this level of golden brown, you can pull them out onto a paper towel to soak any excess oil.

The tomatoes

I went with bright red roma tomatoes in the original recipe, they can work nicely for this recipe. The riper they are, the sweeter and more tomatoey they’ll taste. My favorite is using my homegrown tomatoes grown from pots because they’re organic, sweet, and juicy. They are so much more naturally sweet and red that you won’t have to add as much tomato paste or sugar to the recipe. Cut each tomato into 4 or 8 even pieces each so they’re about bite sized. It just helps them cook down in the pot a bit quicker.

Cooking time!

Add everything into the pot: tofu, tomatoes, salt, sugar, tomato paste, water, and fish sauce (yeass, fish sauce is everywhere in Vietnamese cuisine!). Cover with a lid, bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to 30% heat until the tomatoes are cooked. About 10 minutes total.

Taste and reseason

I like to season recipes so there’s room to adjust at the end. You still need seasoning during the cooking process since it gets into the sauce, and the tofu, so the goal is to get it about 80% of the way there. Once the tomatoes have softened and the liquid has cooked down to a level you’d like, taste the sauce. If it doesn’t taste as tomatoey as you’d like, now’s the time to add some more tomato paste. Check if it needs more salt or fish sauce now too. If it’s simply not as saucy as you’d like, add 1/4 cup of water and re-season with everything. You can also stuff the tofu with meat before adding to the pot. See my recipe for pork-stuffed tofu! Whether go the vegetarian route or not, this goes great with fluffy white rice on the side. Here’s how to cook rice in the microwave, or in a rice cooker, with perfect results. Top with red chili flakes or freshly ground pepper. Serve with rice.