Egg Tofu is a popular type of tofu made from soy milk and eggs. There's no need to buy packaged egg tofu from the store when you can easily make a fresh batch at home! Whisk, strain, and steam. Top with soy sauce and green onions. Scoop and eat warm like fresh tofu.
What Is Egg Tofu?
Hooray for egg tofu! Egg tofu is a specific type of tofu.
Whereas "regular" tofu is made out of just soy milk, egg tofu is made out of soy milk and eggs.
You can purchase egg tofu at most Chinese supermarkets. They come in long tube shape packages which makes it fun to cut, pan fry and eat.
But did you know that making egg tofu at home is super easy? Yes, I think it's even easier than getting into your car, driving to the market, and finding parking.
Plus you get the egg tofu hot and fresh from the steamer. Super tasty. All you need are two main ingredients!
The texture of egg tofu is soft and silky. It's great cold, but I love it warm, spooned up with a drizzle of soy sauce. It makes a great breakfast, afternoon snack, lunch or dinner side dish. It's always a good time for egg tofu.
Egg Tofu Versus Soft Tofu
Egg tofu and soft tofu have similar textures, but they are two completely different types of tofu.
Soft tofu is usually made from soy milk only (plus a coagulant).
Egg tofu is made from a combination of soy milk and eggs.
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe is a no brainer. All you need are eggs and soy milk. Season with salt and a little chicken bouillon if you'd like. Whisk, strain, and steam.
As long as you stick to the ratio of 3 medium eggs to 1 cup of soy milk, you can't go wrong.
Make sure to steam on low heat. This will help produce a very silky egg tofu.
Today's recipe is adapted from House of Annie - Annie and Nate have a pretty awesome blog.
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Soy milk - You can purchase soy milk from the market, make sure to get plain, unsweetened soy milk. We like to purchase fresh soy milk from Aloha Tofu Factory. Or you can make fresh soy milk at home (it's easier than you think!)
- Eggs
- Salt
- Chicken bouillon - Optional, but nice to add for a tiny bit of flavor boost.
Ok, let's get cooking!
Step by Step Directions
Here are the directions, along with a few pro tips (from my many trials and errors ^_^)
Beat eggs.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them well.
Add the soy milk.
Pour in the soy milk and whisk to combine.
Season.
Add the salt and chicken bouillon (optional). Whisk until evenly mixed.
Strain.
Pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl (make sure it is a bowl that you can put in the steamer).
Pro Tip: If you are in super, super rush you can skip the straining step but it won't result in as neatly a beautiful and smooth textured dish. It's not recommended to skip this step, but if you are in rush, it is ok.
Steam.
Prepare the steamer. Once the water boils, add the bowl with the mixture to the steamer. Immediately turn the heat to low and place the cover on the steamer. Steam for 20 minutes on low heat.
Note: Make sure to get the water to a boil before adding the egg tofu. Then steam it on low heat. If you steam it on medium or higher heat, the egg tofu will come out a little bubbly without that smooth texture.
Remove from steamer.
Check the egg tofu, it should be nice and jiggly. Turn off the stove and remove the egg tofu from the steamer.
Plate and serve.
Serve hot. There are many ways you can serve this dish.
We like to top this with fried shallots and soy sauce and serve it as a side dish with a big bowl of rice. You can also scoop the egg tofu and use it in stews and soups (treat it like soft tofu, it is delicate).
Note: If you want to prepare the topping the same way it's pictured in this post, slice and saute two shallots until golden brown. Season the shallots with salt. Pour the shallots over the egg tofu. Then drizzle soy sauce and sesame oil on top. Add chopped green onions, and eat!
FAQs and Tips
It will keep for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.
Steaming is most ideal! Reheat in the steamer for about 3 minutes. You can also do it in the microwave but it might result is slightly rubbery texture, so steamer is the best option.
Make sure to steam it on low heat (not medium heat or high heat). Prepare the steamer and bring the water up to a boil before you add the bowl with the egg tofu mixture.
When you purchase cold egg tofu from the market, it functions as an ingredient (you have to cut, cook, etc. do something to the egg tofu to make it into a dish).
But when we make fresh and hot egg tofu at home, it functions as a dish (you don't have to do much additional prep work).
When the egg tofu comes hot out of the steamer, you can just put a little soy sauce on top, spoon and eat warm! It's so good that way.
Sometimes we like to fry shallots and season with salt. Then spoon that all over the hot egg tofu. Drizzle on soy sauce and sesame oil. Top with green onions and eat away!
You can even use our Dumpling Dipping Sauce recipe and drizzle that on top...super delicious.
Or you can use it as an ingredient. Take big scoops of the egg tofu and add it to any soup, stew, or broth to make it a complete meal.
There are endless ways to enjoy egg tofu and I hope you try them all ^_^
Egg Tofu Recipe
See below and enjoy ^_^
Egg Tofu
Egg Tofu is a popular type of tofu made from soy milk and eggs. There's no need to buy packaged egg tofu from the store when you can easily make a fresh batch at home! Whisk, strain, and steam. Top with soy sauce and green onions. Scoop and eat warm like fresh tofu.
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon (optional)
Instructions
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them well.
- Pour in the soy milk.
- Add the salt and chicken bouillon (optional). Whisk until evenly mixed.
- Pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl (make sure it is a bowl that you can put in the steamer).
- Prepare the steamer. Once the water boils, add the bowl with the mixture to the steamer. Immediately turn the heat to low and place the cover on the steamer. Steam for 20 minutes on low heat.
- Check the egg tofu, it should be nice and jiggly. Turn off the stove and remove the egg tofu from the steamer.
- There are many ways you can serve this dish! We like to top it with soy sauce, fried shallots, and green onions and serve it as a side dish with a big bowl of rice. You can also scoop the egg tofu and use it in stews and soups (treat it like soft tofu, it is delicate).
Notes
- Recipe adapted from House of Annie.
- If you're using Better Than Bouillon (instead of a powdered/cube bouillon), I like to first dissolve the bouillon in a tiny bit of hot water so that it blend more easily into the egg and soy milk mixture.
- If you want to prepare the topping the same way it's pictured in this post, slice and saute two shallots until it's a deep golden color (almost caramelized)! Season with salt. Pour over the egg tofu. Then drizzle soy sauce and sesame oil on top. Add chopped green onions, and eat!
Thank you so much
This is a delicious