Luscious steamed silken tofu topped with a fragrant green tangle of sauteed spinach, green onions, cilantro, ginger, and soy sauce is just the ticket for those days when you really need something delicious and comforting but don’t have too much energy to spare. Made with under 10 ingredients, fully cooked in about 15 minutes, and served with steamed rice adorned with Roasted Sesame Seed Salt, Steamed Silken Tofu with Ginger and Fragrant Greens is easy to prepare while nourishing the body and delighting the palate.
A recipe inspired by a childhood favourite
While this recipe is for a tofu dish, its origin lies in childhood memories of my father steaming whole fish with a Cantonese inspired ginger and garlic topping. Never quite having the right kitchen tools, he would concoct an improvised steamer inside a large pot, with a heatproof plate balanced on top of an upside down bowl. He would fashion a DIY string or foil contraption to lift the plate in and out of the pot, and then begin the process of cooking the whole cleaned fish, piled high with a mountain of julienned ginger, green onions, and generous glugs of soy sauce.
The whole preparation would be steamed until the fish was flaky, white, and tender, and we would all dive in, greedily pulling out sections of aromatic fish and accompanying sauce which we spooned on top of large servings of white rice.
It has been many years since I last ate my dad’s steamed fish, and these days, I rarely if ever eat fish, so I have transformed that taste memory into a completely plant-based offering. Delivering the same soft and fragrant herbal gratification of the original, albeit using silken tofu and some additional ingredients to increase flavour and nutrition.
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Notes on ingredients
This recipe calls for ginger as a key part of its flavour base, and I think it’s worth noting that there is a discernible difference between organic and conventional ginger, at least in my experience. I find organic ginger to be smaller in size, with a more yellow interior flesh, and boasting a stronger ginger flavour then the larger, paler, less flavourful non-organic variety. I’m not exactly sure why this is - I will certainly research the reasons why in the future - but needless to say, I make a point of buying organic ginger whenever possible.
While organic ginger can seem pricey at mainstream or health oriented grocery stores, not much is needed here. I have also found organic ginger to be significantly cheaper at both Indian and Chinese grocers, and am fortunate enough to have multiple sources for this kitchen staple in my local neighbourhood.
I’m a big advocate of using herb stems when they are flavourful and useful, and that is certainly true of cilantro stems. Here, I include the cut cilantro stems when sizzling up the green onions and the ginger, treating them as flavourful vegetable in their own right. The more delicate leaves are added in for a quick saute later on in the process, lending their verdant, lemony accent to the finished dish.
I was recently re-introduced to bunched baby or young spinach, something I hadn’t bought in years. While yes, it does have to be washed unlike packaged baby spinach, and that does take a bit of extra time, I appreciate the way in which the leaves, although still tender, are a bit more substantial, and the attached stems add more succulent heft when cooked. I highly recommend using bunched spinach here (not to be confused with packaged mature spinach which is an entirely different thing) to add substance and flavour, but in a pinch, and I’ve certainly done it, just use regular baby spinach when time or availability requires.
Method
Here, silken tofu is steamed in the same dish used for serving to remove excess water from the tofu and cook it through, improving both texture and taste. While the tofu steams away for 10 minutes, the spinach is simply sauteed with soy sauce for seasoning and set aside. The same pan is used to sizzle ginger, green onion, and cilantro stalks in hot oil to create layers of flavour, followed by a final addition of the cilantro leaves and soy sauce. The sauteed spinach is re-warmed on top of the hot tofu, and the fragrant, gingery greens are ladled on top, ready to scoop onto steamed rice sprinkled with Roasted Sesame Seed Salt. Pure plant eating satisfaction if you ask me!
Setting up a steamer
You may well have a proper steamer set in your kitchen, but I find myself making a perfectly acceptable makeshift steamer for this dish every time; I guess you could say it is a tradition and frankly I enjoy a little bit (maybe a lot) of kitchen DIY. They key concepts here are to use a big pot that will fit the dish you plan on using with a bit of wiggle room, and that you have some way of lifting the dish out when it is hot and ready to serve.
For my adhoc set up, I place a heatsafe metal trivet on the bottom of a big pot, add 3 or 4 cups of water, and then I place my steaming dish on top of that trivet. If you don’t have anything similar, you can use an upside down metal or silicone steamer basket, or an upturned heatsafe bowl or pyrex container. Just make sure you have enough room between the water and your dish (so no water boils up into your tofu) and that you can still fit the lid on top of the pot.
Removing the dish when it is hot and ready is also something that requires a moment of simple planning. With my setup I know I can fit a thin spatula underneath to gently lift the dish up, and I have little silicon grabbers to hold the edges of the hot dish as it comes out. An alternative is to fold a long piece of aluminum foil into a 2” or 3” thick ribbon and place it under your dish, making sure enough length comes out the sides to grab and lift when you are ready to do so, and voila, your DIY steamer is ready to go!
The Food Find
While many forms of medium or firm tofu can be found widely these days, silken tofu, an ultra soft variety, may not be on your radar as it is only suitable for certain kinds of culinary uses. Silken tofu is usually found completely filling the packaging it comes in with little or no extra liquid, and can be tricky to remove. If you are using soft tofu, which is quite similar to silken tofu and just a shade less fragile, you will probably find that it comes packed in water. For tips, tricks, and techniques, find out more about how to best handle and use Silken and Soft Tofu.
Looking for more inspiration?
Steamed Silken Tofu with Ginger and Fragrant Greens
Ingredients
- 400 gms silken or soft tofu, approx. *see note
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil, divided I use sunflower or safflower oil
- 125 gm bunched young spinach about half a bunch, well washed and dried
- 6 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce, divided *see note
- 1 teaspoon sugar I use organic cane sugar
- 25 gm julienned ginger 2" lengths (about 4 tbsp), organic if possible
- 6 scallions cut into 2” lengths, white parts cut into halves or quarters if especially thick
- 50 gm cilantro, (1 small bunch) washed and dried, stems cut into 2” lengths, leaves reserved
- Extra low sodium soy sauce for serving optional
- Steamed short grain rice with Roasted Sesame Seed Salt optional
Instructions
- Prepare your steamer, with a heatproof trivet on the bottom of a large pot big enough to accommodate a lipped plate or flat bottomed bowl that you will use for both steaming and serving. Make sure your dish is well above the water level and that a lid will fit on top of the pot. See notes below for more information on steamer set ups.
- Set a large saute pan on medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the spinach and stir fry until the stems are tender and bendable, about 5 minutes, adding 1 teaspoon of soy sauce about half way through. When tender, remove the spinach from the pan, roughly chop on a cutting board, and set aside nearby. You will use this pan again.
- Carefully remove your tofu from its packaging (see notes below for handling tips) and place the entire block onto the dish you will be using for both steaming and serving. Using a butter or table knife, gently cut the tofu, while it is in the dish, into 1” slices, and if you have room in your dish, gently push the slices over to fan out a bit.
- Place the dish containing the tofu into your steamer set up (making sure you have put water in the bottom of the pot), put the lid on your pot, and turn the heat to high. Steam for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, turn off the heat, leave the pot where it is and put the chopped spinach on top of the tofu to warm, keeping the lid on top. You will notice liquid has seeped out of the tofu and this will be removed before serving.
- Put the remaining soy sauce into a small cup with the sugar and give it a little mix so the sugar starts to dissolve; set aside.
- While the tofu is steaming, using the same saute pan you already used, set on medium heat, add the remaining oil (5 tsp), and once hot, add the ginger and let it frizzle for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to avoid too much sticking. Then add the white parts of the green onion and the cilantro stems and stir fry for another 2 minutes or so, then finally add the rest of the green onion for another 3 minutes. Add the cilantro leaves for a final minute, then add the soy sauce sugar mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Using a spoon or a turkey baster, remove the tofu liquid that has accumulated inside the steaming/serving dish and discard. Lift your bowl gently out of the steamer, mound the fragrant greens on top of the spinach (that is already on top of the tofu) and if you like, add a few more extra teaspoons of soy sauce to the bottom of your dish to add to the juices collecting there. Serve with rice on the side, dig in, and enjoy!
Marilyn McNeill
I liked the little anecdote about your father. Yes he did make steamed whole fish especially with the ginger and cilantro being dominant and it was delicious. m
daraeats
I'll have to make you my tofu version sometime very soon!