There are some recipes I’ve discovered over the years that are just so so so very good. People, this tofu and mushroom ginger gravy is one of them. A dinner staple in my house for two reasons, it is 1) easy and cheap to make and 2) fricking delicious. It is probably one of the gingery-est things you will ever eat and undeniably delicious even to ginger haters.

First let me honor one of my favorite food blogs, High Heel Gourmet, for turning me onto this home-cooked Thai dish. This lovely lady is an amazing talent and resource and if you want to learn how to cook real Thai food, please check her out. Here is a link to her original recipe for Khao Na Gai, which uses chicken and oyster sauce and fried eggs and sausages. I’ve taken her recipe and adapted (also simplified!) it to make it vegan for my family.

Ingredients
Serves 2 as large portion or 4 as a small portion
3-4 fat garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs sliced ginger and 3 tbs minced ginger (or more! the more, the better)
6 tbs good quality, aged soy sauce (or 3 tbs sweet dark soy sauce and 3 tbs light soy sauce)
2 tbs Chinese wine
White pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Sesame oil
1 block of extra firm tofu (if you don’t like tofu, use extra mushrooms)
1 box of mushrooms (or 1-2 cups assorted mushrooms)
Olive oil
2-3 tsp corn starch (or potato starch)
1/2 vegetable boullion cube and 2 cups water (or 2 cups veggie stock)

Serve with rice or noodles and any of the following:
Sliced cucumber
sliced green chili
fresh cilantro

1) Chop the garlic, ginger, mushrooms and tofu. If you do not like to bite into a large piece of ginger then mince all the ginger instead of leaving half of it sliced.
2) Put the mushrooms, tofu and half the garlic and ginger into a bowl. Add the soy sauce, chinese wine, 1 tsp white pepper, sugar, 1 glug of sesame oil. Mix and leave to marinade for 30 minutes.
3) While that is marinating, make the rice or noodles according to their directions and set aside. Use asian noodles or jasmine or sticky rice.
4) Heat up 3 tbs of olive oil in a frying pan or wok and fry the remaining garlic and ginger. Do not brown. After a minute, add in the marinated tofu and mushroom, including all the sauce.
5) Fry on high heat while stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes or until all mushrooms are cooked.
6) Add in the half veg stock cube and 1 cup of water and simmer.
7) Mix the corn starch or potato starch with another cup of water till blended and add that in. The gravy will thicken and turn glossy. Cook for another few minutes and taste. Add more soy sauce or white pepper if needed.
8) Add another tsp of sesame oil just before serving.

Eat with chili for heat and cucumber for cooling.