Tao Hu Pad Pak Choi

During one of my home office lunch breaks this quick Thai “Tao Hu Pad Pak Choi” ( เต้าหู้ผัดผักฉ่อย ) with tofu and pak choi was created out of necessity. I found it so delicious that I wanted to share the recipe for this simple wok dish with you here. You can even make the dish completely vegan by replacing the fish sauce with “no-fish sauce” or more soy sauce and using a vegetarian mushroom sauce instead of the oyster sauce.

Preparation

As always when cooking in a wok, it is important to prepare all the ingredients in advance so that cooking is stress-free later on. Firstly, drain the tofu and then cut it into long pieces. Then pluck the baby bok choy leaves from the stalk and cut them into narrow strips. If you are using normal bok choy, you should also separate the firm white parts from the green leaves.

Next, let’s make the sauce. To do this, mix half of the yellow bean paste with the oyster sauce, fish sauce, soya sauce and a dash of water with a spoon until the paste has dissolved. Finally, peel the garlic and cut it into fine pieces.

Now heat the vegetable oil in a wok. As soon as it is hot, add the garlic and the rest of the bean paste. Fry both together for a few seconds and then add the tofu strips.

Fry the tofu over a medium heat until it is lightly browned. It should also absorb some of the bean paste. To prevent the tofu from sticking , you can also add a few splashes of water from time to time.

If you are using normal bok choy, add the white parts of the leaves to the wok and fry them until they soften. If you are using baby bok choy , you can add the whole leaves at this point.

As soon as the bok choy has softened, deglaze with the mixed sauce and leave to simmer for another minute. If using normal bok choy, also add the green parts of the leaves now.

Serve the finished “Tao Hu Pad Pak Choi” immediately steaming hot with jasmine rice.