This easy Seafood and Tofu Casserole is a comforting dish with an interesting combination of silken tofu and seafood cooked in an earthenware pot and then served piping hot at the table.
What is this Seafood Tofu Casserole
Tofu braised with seafood, either in a clay pot or a foil packet, is a lesser-known dish I discovered in Saigon. I find the version made in a clay pot much more delicious, and here we call it “đậu hũ hải sản tay cầm“. “Đậu hũ” means tofu, “hải sản” means seafood, and “tay cầm” is the word used for dishes cooked in a clay pot.
This seafood tofu stew dish is flavorful and full of contrasting textures. It is quite quick and easy to make, and you can cook it in a small dutch oven if you don’t have an earthenware pot.
Ingredients
Tofu: you will need to use silken tofu or soft tofu. Its silky texture will shine in the dish. This type of tofu is also great for steaming, as you may have seen in these steamed tofu with pork, with black bean sauce and with mushrooms recipes.
Seafood: I recommend using 2-3 different types of seafood for more variety. My picks are shrimp, scallops, and squid. Some people also use fish fillets, but I personally find the fish flavor overwhelms this delicate dish.
In case you want to know how to prepare squid for this recipe from whole squids, please find the instructions (with video) in my steamed squid recipe.
Vegetables: I like to add some carrots, snow peas, and fresh shiitake mushrooms for additional flavors, textures, and colors.
Sauce: to create the savory flavors for the tofu casserole, you will need oyster sauce, shaoxing wine, salt and pepper.
Cooking Steps
This seafood and tofu casserole takes about just half an hour to make with straightforward cooking steps.
1️⃣ First, sear all the proteins (seafood and mushroom) in a hot pan to brown them on both sides. Don’t cook the seafood all the way through yet, since we still have the braising step later on, and we don’t want them to become dry and rubbery.
2️⃣ In the same pan, sauté the aromatics and add the ingredients for the sauce mixture. Then thicken the sauce with some cornstarch slurry.
3️⃣ Blanch the snow peas very quickly so that they are still crisp and look vibrant green. Also blanch to tofu briefly.
4️⃣ Now, time to use your clay pot or small dutch oven. Transfer the sauce mixture to the pot.
Then arrange the tofu, mushroom and seafood into the pot. Top with the snow peas. Cover the pot and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until everything is cooked through and the dish is bubbling.
5️⃣ Give the casserole a gentle stir, and then serve it right away with some steamed rice. It should be piping hot at the table.
Recipe Substitutions
- You may use several dried shiitake mushrooms that have been rehydrated instead of fresh ones. Make sure to use a smaller quantity since the dried kind has more concentrated flavors.
- You can also try different types of mushrooms such as brown beech mushrooms, but they may not be as earthy as shiitake.
- Use frozen green peas instead of snow peas. You will not need to blanch the peas, just simply stir them in towards the end of the simmering step.
Please find the full instructions for this seafood and tofu stew in the recipe card below. It is great for both daily meals as well as special dinners.
Related Recipes
Here are more ways to enjoy silken or soft tofu:
Other tofu recipes you may want to try:
⭐️ I’d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment and a rating if you have tried it. New recipes are added every week so let’s connect on Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates. You can find my collection of Vietnamese recipes here.
Seafood and Tofu Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 oz peeled and deveined raw shrimp
- 3 oz scallops
- 3 oz squid, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- cooking oil
- 1.5 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut in half and stems discarded
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 oz snow peas
- 6-8 oz silken or soft tofu, cut into 3/4 – 1 inch cubes
- 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup water, divided (or stock)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- black pepper
Instructions
- Toss the shrimp, scallops and squid with the salt. Heat a pan over medium heat and add some oil to lightly coat the bottom. Sear the seafood briefly in a single layer in batches until both sides are lightly browned (no need to cook through). It takes about 20-30 seconds each side, depending on your stove. Set aside.
- In the same pan, also sear the mushrooms until both sides are lightly browned. Set aside.
- To the same pan, add some more oil if needed. Then add sliced onions and minced garlic, sauté for a few seconds until garlic is fragrant. Then add carrot, stir and cook for up to another minute.
- Add shaoxing wine to the pan, then add oyster sauce and water (reserving 1 tablespoon of water). Stir and let the mixture come to a simmer.
- Dissolve cornstarch in the reserved water, and slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the sauce while stirring to thicken it. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and set the sauce aside.
- Bring a large pot with plenty of water to a boil. Add snow peas and blanch for several seconds so that they are still crisp and look vibrant green. Remove the snow peas and set aside.
- To the same pot, add tofu cubes and also blanch briefly for several seconds. Remove from the water and set aside. Be careful not to break the tofu.
- Transfer the sauce made in Step 5 to a clay pot or a small dutch oven. Then add half of the tofu and mushrooms. Continue to place seared seafood into the pot. Arrange the remaining tofu cubes, mushrooms and snow peas on top of the seafood.
- Cover the clay pot (or dutch oven) and simmer over medium low heat for 4-5 minutes, or until everything is cooked through and the dish is bubbling. Open the lid and give the casserole a gentle stir.
- Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking by adding more salt (or soy sauce) if needed. Sprinkle with some black pepper. Remove the pot from the heat and serve right away.
Notes
- Use several dried shiitake mushrooms that have been rehydrated instead of fresh ones. Make sure to use a smaller quantity since the dried kind has more concentrated flavors.
- You can also try different types of mushrooms such as brown beech mushrooms, but they may not be as earthy as shiitake.
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