The Husband was away last weekend on a trip with his friend, so I took the opportunity to make something with tofu. My friends in the blogosphere have come up with so many tantalizing recipes frankly I was overwhelmed with choice. Plus I knew I had a bunch of Asian veggies in the fridge that needed to be used up, so it seemed to make sense to throw together a stir fry.
I didn’t feel like making a Chinese sauce, and I remembered the garlic sauce from Thai Bros. around the corner that I had tasted just a week or so prior. I had a hankering for it, and thought I could probably whip it up myself if I had a guide.
It’s a lovely, savory sauce that went perfectly with the tofu and veggies. So much so that when we had salmon on Monday, I recreated the sauce and used it as a marinade before grilling. I thought it was superb, and The Husband agreed.
A lovely combination of herbs and spices!
This will definitely be a go-to stir fry sauce for me in future, especially when I don’t want to use coconut milk—or don’t have any. It also uses my favorite herb, cilantro. What could be better than that? Interesting fact: Thailand was only introduced to chilis in the last few hundred years, and of course they’ve been around for thousands. So I guess the pepper and the garlic were a substitute for the spice, and it’s lovely to explore a
I am going to go out looking for some mushroom soy sauce, but I didn’t have any and it still tasted great. I’m so glad I don’t have to depend on Thai Bros. to get my fix—although it is a great lunch spot.
Vietnamese Garlic Black Pepper Sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs shallots, minced
2 Tbs mushroom-flavored soy sauce
1 tsp. brown sugar
1.5 tsp. coarse freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. cilantro root or stem, minced
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbs toasted sesame oil
Blend all ingredients together in a blender or mini food processor until smooth. With the tofu, I stir-fried the veggies first then added the tofu, and lastly the sauce to finish.
For the salmon, I marinated the fish in the sauce for about 30 minutes before The Husband took it out and fired it on the grill.
Let me know how you use it! It would be a great sauce in tons of different ways….get creative!
The finished salmon.
tinykitchenstories 
Looks delicious! Love all the tofu stuff going on..
I’m eating leftovers right this second–delish even the second time around! I’m on a real tofu kick at the moment, not sure why!? 🙂
Oh that sounds yummy! I could see me pouring that sauce directly on some steamed browned rice and calling it a day!
That is an awesome idea! I’m going to make some more of this and freeze it or keep in on hand somewhere. I just finished eating the leftovers and fell in love all over again.
Love those spicy Asian flavours! Very interesting fact re the late intro of chillies to Thai food, yet they love soooo much spice!!!
I know, right? This probably would be good with a little chili thrown in, now that you mention it…thanks for the inspiration!
Wow! Maybe just a little lemon or lime zest? Just thinking aloud. 🙂
Magic. Absolutely! Thanks for the addition! Will be making more soon, I think!
Love that leftovers are just as good (or better!) than the first time around 🙂 This is a big win, tks 🙂
Thank you!! 🙂
Ohm, love Asian food – the sauce sounds fantastic!
Thanks! So far I’ve received comments that made me think I should add just a little chili and some lime zest/juice. Let me know if you make it and add either of those things! 🙂
Will do!