Silken Tofu with Mushrooms and Bonito Flakes

This recipe was inspired by Century Egg with House Tofu, a mind-blowing dish at Fat Mao, a restaurant in Vancouver, Canada. The dish stars incredible house-made tofu and quartered century eggs — blanketed with cilantro leaves, sliced scallions and fried shallots and dressed with “black garlic sauce.”

Century eggs, in case you’re not familiar with them, are a Chinese delicacy made by preserving eggs in an an alkaline solution and ash — which renders the yolks intensely flavorful (funky! stinky!) and the whites gelatinous. The whole thing has serious umami. Clearly the fabulous century eggs are the point of Fat Mao’s dish, but we really loved the whole vibe: the tofu, the sauce, the herbs, the crunchy shallots, and yes that century egg. Still, we thought if we could come up with an easier-to-make, perhaps less intimidating analog for the egg, we’d have a pretty exciting recipe.

READ: Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) will put a spring in your step and umami on your plate

We found the analog in cremini mushrooms dry-steamed till they produce their own sauce, which then gets reduced to a glaze. (We learned the technique from one of our favorite cookbook authors, Kate Leahy, who credits another favorite author — Andrea Nguyen with introducing her to it. The texture, color and umami level gently recalls Fat Mao’s century eggs. We hope you enjoy our interpretation. If you do, find your way to Vancouver and treat yourself to the real thing at Fat Mao.

It’s kind of a chill dish to make, as everything is served room temperature. That means you can prepare each element lazily or quickly, as you like.

Serves 2 as a light lunch, or 3 to 4 as a dinner appetizer.

Ingredients

FOR THE BLACK GARLIC SAUCE:

1 large clove black garlic, peeled and put through a garlic press (about 1/2 teaspoon crushed)

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

2 teaspoons soy sauce