If you have made tofu from soybeans yourself at home, you also need some nice recipe ideas to eat it of course. Here we have marinated the homemade tofu in soy sauce. And then fried it with shiitake to serve this spaghetti with tofu and shiitake. Moreover it is ready in no time, so perfect for a quick and healthy midweek dinner. Shiitake is a Japanese mushroom with a lot of flavor. We will explain more about that later on in the article.

How to make spaghetti with tofu and shiitake?

This vegetarian spaghetti with tofu and shiitake is really so easy to make. The preparations, the mise en place, are not too much work. And while the spaghetti is cooking, you can also make the stir-fried tofu with shiitake. So that after twenty minutes you can already serve it on the plates. Really something auick and healthy for a busy weekday.

The preparations for a vegetarian spaghetti with tofu and shiitake

We start with the tofu. We cut it into pieces, cubes, one to two centimeters in size. Bite-sized pieces of tofu. We then put them in a bowl and marinate the tofu cubes with two tablespoons of soy sauce. By itself, tofu has little or no flavor. That is why it is important that we season it well. Make sure the tofu is soaked in the soy sauce on all sides so it can absorb the flavor. If necessary, stir the cubes again in between.

Next we cut the shiitake into pieces. Depending on the size, you can cut the Japanese mushrooms into two or three pieces. We also put those pieces in a (different) bowl and also marinate them with two tablespoons of soy sauce.

Now we want to cut the ginger root into small pieces. First, remove the skin as it gives a bitter taste. We don't need that. Then cut the remaining yellow root into small pieces. We add it to the marinated shiitake. Mix everything well again. And also stir the tofu cubes once more.

From the spring onion we remove both ends and then cut them into rings. The white part goes with the marinated shiitake. We keep aside a few rings from the green part for finishing the plates at the end.

Finally, we halve the cherry tomatoes. We put them aside as we will only add them to the stir-fry in the last minutes.

Preparing the vegetarian spaghetti with tofu and shiitake

If you want, you can put a pot of water on the fire during the preparations. However, if you prefer to work sequentially rather than in parallel, it is now the time to bring the water for the spaghetti to a boil. Also add a splash of olive oil. This will prevent the spaghetti from sticking afterwards. Then cook the spaghetti as indicated on the package. As a rule of tumb, that will be ten minutes or so.

While the spaghetti is cooking, you can also stir-fry the tofu and shiitake mushrooms. To do this, heat olive oil in a pan or wok. Once it is warm, you can add the marinated shiitake with the ginger. Then stir-fry it for two to three minutes. Following add the marinated tofu. Continue to stir the ingredients gently in the pan. Two minutes later you can add the halved cherry tomatoes. We let them fry for another minute and then we lower the fire. We don't want to overcook everything. Now keep this warm.

Meanwhile, the spaghetti will also be about ready. So you can drain it and then immediately divide it over deep plates. Then we spread the stir-fried tofu with shiitake over the spaghetti. Finally, we finish the plates with a few green spring onion rings that we put aside earlier.

What is tofu?

You definitely know tofu from Asian and vegetarian cuisine. And you may also remember that it is made from soybeans. But how do you make square tofu cubes out of round soy beans? We explain that in every detail in the article homemade tofu from soy beans.

What are shiitake?

And as promised, we also want to share some deeper insights in shiitake. Sounds like Japanese? Well, it is. Shiitake are Japanese mushrooms that grows on wood. "Take" is Japanese for mushroom. And "shii" is the tree on which it likes to thrive. So it is literally the mushroom that grows on the tree.

But what makes shiitake so special? That is primarily the taste. It has a firmer structure than our classic mushroom and they taste much more powerful. The preparation method is also different. You can cook mushrooms thoroughly, then they become tender. With shiitake it is the other way around: they become tough if you cook or fry them for too long. That is why it is recommended to quickly stir-fry shiitake mushrooms at a high temperature for an optimal bite.

Fresh or dried shiitake?

You may find both fresh and dried shiitake in the store. Basically you can use both. Although I have a preference for the fresh product. But if they are not available, you can also use dried shiitake. You have to soak it in water for a few hours beforehand. After that you can process them just like fresh shiitake. You can also use the soaking water of the dried shiitake as a basis for a soup. It's a shame to throw that away.

Learn more about this wonderful Japanese mushroom:

If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.