Pork and Tofu Patties

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My mom used to make this for us as kids. I'm not sure what to really call it except "Pork & Tofu patties". To me, it's basically an Asian version of meatloaf, where tofu is used in place of breadcrumbs to form a meat mixture. There's quite a bit of tofu too-- a 1 to 1 ratio of tofu to meat. So this yields a very tender meat patty that's great with a hot bowl of steamed rice.

I haven't made this dish in a long time, but I went shopping at Costco this week, and wounded up with 4 blocks of tofu... so here we are.

Enjoy!

AND be prepared for more tofu recipes to come! Ha ha

Gather ingredients

Add all ingredients in a bowl

Mix well with your hands

Form patties and decorate with peas

Form second tray and decorate with carrots

Steam patties

Make gravy

Gently return patties to pan and heat through to serve hot.

Yields 4-5 servings (about 14 to 16 small patties depending on size of each patty)

Ingredients for patties:

  • 1 lb lean ground pork
  • 1 16oz block of firm tofu
  • 1/3 c chopped green onions (about 2 stalks)
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1 t grated ginger
  • 1 ½ T minced reconstituted dried shrimp
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 t salt
  • ½ t sugar
  • ½ t ground black pepper
  • 2 T cornstarch
  • 1 egg
  • optional decoration (16 frozen peas or 16 small pieces of diced carrots)

Ingredients for gravy:

  • 1 T cornstarch
  • ½ water
  • 1 T oyster sauce
  • liquid from the steamed patties

Procedures:

1. Mix all ingredients for patties together in a bowl. Use your hands to squish the tofu and meat together.

2. Form into small round patties and place in a single layer on a steam safe tray. You should get about 14-16 patties from the mixture, and most likely will need to steam on two separate trays unless you have a larger steamer. Place a frozen pea or a diced carrot in the top center of each patty for decoration prior to steaming if desired (see photos).

3. Steam the patties for 15 minutes under medium heat, and set aside. Steam second tray of patties and set aside.

4. To a pan, add the ingredients for the gravy and mix well. Then turn on the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. Return the tofu patties carefully to the pan of gravy and heat until warmed through. Do not stir the patties around or they will fall apart. Serve over rice.