Pork Tofu Squash
An easy to cook family favorite comfort meal.
Equipment
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 5-quart pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp canola oil or olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- ½ lb ground pork
- 2 lbs long squash (opo squash, hyotan squash) diced into ¼-inch cubes, green parts separated from white parts
- ⅔ cup soy sauce
- 4 ½ cups water
- ¼ cup palm sugar packed
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 16 ounces firm tofu cut into cubes
Instructions
- Heat pan on medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add 2 tbsp canola oil to pan and heat for another 30 seconds. Add 1 onion to pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until translucent.
- Add ½ lb ground pork to pan and cook for 1 minute to 90 seconds. (If you are not using extra lean ground pork, drain the pork and onions in a bowl lined with several paper towels to remove the excess fat. Once drained, return pork and onions to pan.)
- Turn heat up to high and add green parts of the squash, ⅔ cup soy sauce, 4 ½ cups water, ¼ cup palm sugar, and 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar to the pan. Stir to combine and cover until it comes to a boil (it will take about 4 to 5 minutes to come to a boil).
- Once boiling, cook on high with the cover on, stirring occasionally, until the green parts of the squash starts to soften. This will take about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Add the white parts of the squash, stir, and cook covered on high for another 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cut 16 ounces firm tofuand cook for another minute until the tofu is warmed through.
Video
Notes
Tips and Tricks
Can I use low sodium soy sauce?
Yes. For low sodium soy sauce, increase the soy sauce to 1 ½ cups and decrease the water to 3 ½ cups. If you have storage space, I suggest using regular sodium soy sauce as you will save money over the long run not using a higher amount of low sodium soy sauce.
Can I use other sweeteners?
Yes. You can use 3 tablespoons of mirin (Japanese sweet cooking seasoning) or honey. You can also swap the palm sugar for brown sugar or white sugar, though white sugar is not recommended since it is highly processed.
Can I use other proteins?
Chicken thighs would be a great alternative to ground pork. If you decide to use ground chicken or ground turkey, add ½ cup of the 4 1/2 cups water with the ground poultry when you saute it before adding the soy sauce and remaining water. This will help to keep your ground poultry from drying out.
Make it vegetarian by not using meat and just using tofu or add five or six soaked and chopped shiitake mushrooms.
Do I have to use rice vinegar?
In a pinch, you can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in place of rice vinegar. It will taste slightly different but will still be delicious.