Today's post is sponsored by a new-to-me company, Pulo Philippine Cuisine. They have an awesome line of authentic marinades and cooking sauces inspired by the many flavours of the Philippine islands. Pulo's entire line also happens to be completely vegan, yay!
In this recipe, I used Pulo's Luzon Island inspired Kare Kare Toasted Peanut cooking sauce. In their lineup of products you'll also find the Tinaga Island inspired Coconut Adobo sauce, and three marinades: Mango Chili, Pineapple Tamarind, and Lemongrass Atsuete.
Don't get too excited about the marinades though, cause we're saving those for another day and another recipe 😉
The Kare Kare Toasted Peanut sauce is rich, nutty, and slightly tangy with the mildest touch of heat. The Coconut Adobo is spicier, with a little chili, some tang, and lots of rich coconut. Both sauces are totally unlike anything else I've ever tried. It's been such a treat trying products inspired by a cuisine I've not yet had the pleasure of sampling personally! The focus on acidity has been refreshing and so interesting!
Using Pulo's cooking sauces I decided to go with a hearty rice bowl loaded with chunky veggies, tofu, and lots of brothy sauce. I thinned Pulo's sauce with vegetable stock and left it to simmer with large chunks of zucchini, carrots, baby bok choy, red onion, garlic, and golden-brown fried tofu. I served the rich nutty stew over rice and topped it with a sprinkle of salty, dry-roasted peanuts. Hearty, healthy perfection.
The veggies in this dish can be completely customized to your liking. First I experimented using baby eggplants and green beans, but I ultimately preferred the simplicity of using my favourite staple veggies like zucchini, carrots, and red onion. I think potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms, or a number of other vegetables would work beautifully here too!
If you decide to try this recipe or find yourself dreaming up your own concoctions with Pulo, make sure to tag @PuloCuisine and @ilovegan on Instagram so we can see what you're up to!
This post is sponsored by Pulo Philippine Cuisine. We love them for their easy to prepare and 100% vegan cooking sauces and marinades. Thanks for supporting the brands that support I Love Vegan! Learn more about why we love Pulo Philippine Cuisine SO much at www.pulocuisine.com.
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Kare Kare Toasted Peanut Tofu & Vegetables
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 -5 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course, Entrée
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
A delicious, rich and nutty tofu vegetable stew served over rice and topped with salty dry-roasted peanuts. Featuring Pulo's Kare Kare Toasted Peanut Cooking Sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 block extra-firm tofu, cut into large ½”x ½” 1” long rectangles
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 2 medium carrots, sliced diagonally, ½” thick slices
- 1 ½ medium zucchini, halved lengthwise, and cut into large ¾” slices
- ½ small red onion, cut into ¼” slices
- 1 baby bok choy, separated into leaves, and halved lengthwise
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar Pulo’s Kare Kare Toasted Peanut Cooking Sauce
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼- ½ cup salted, dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 4 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium-high heat. Pan-fry tofu on all four of the long sides, until golden brown. Use a pancake flipper to help lift the tofu if it sticks to the pan. Sprinkle tofu with ¼ teaspoon salt. Once the tofu is golden brown, set it aside.
- In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil over high heat. Add the sliced carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and onion, cook for another 1-2 minutes. Finally add the baby bok choy, and the garlic. Sprinkle the vegetables with ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until vegetables are just tender.
- Add the tofu, Pulo’s Kare Kare Toasted Peanut cooking sauce, vegetable broth, and turmeric to the sautéed vegetables. Simmer for 15-25 minutes over medium heat, until the vegetables are tender and the tofu is saturated with sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt if needed.
- Serve the tofu and vegetables over a bed of rice, spoon as much extra sauce as your desire over each portion and finish the presentation with 1-2 tablespoon of chopped peanuts sprinkled over top.
Notes
If storing leftovers, store the tofu/vegetables/sauce separate from the rice for best reheating and serving.If available, store bought deep fried tofu puffs make for a delicious and convenient alternative to frying your own tofu.
Leah
I would love to give this a try after christmas however my client is on a low carb. I was wondering what would be the best partner for this recipe.
Thank you and have a joyous christmas.
Brittany
I'd try serving it on cauliflower rice!
lacee pringle
is there anything else I could use as a substitute, considering I don't live in Canada? or some way I could order it?
Brittany
Hi Lacee! I'll have to do a "from scratch" version of this recipe! In the meantime, you can order Pulo from My Asian Store and in store from Cost Plus World Market (mainland US). I hope that helps!
Pallavi
Do they sell these in the US.
Brittany
No 🙁 Just Canada!
My Dish is Bomb
Your tofu looks seriously beautiful. It's been so long since tofu has been a part of my regular dinner rotation, and I miss it SO much! I love tofu!! I'm totally going to look for these sauces now 🙂
★★★★★
Brittany
Oh yes, do it! They ARE exclusive to us Canadians!! Thanks for commenting Katy!
[email protected]
Yum that bowl of food looks delicious! I could so dig into it right now. I will be sure to look out for the sauces at the grocery store.
★★★★
Brittany
Thank you Mel! I hope you manage to find them, they're fantastic!
Dylan
Nice! I am always in search of new ways to use tofu. This looks like a keeper. Thanks!
Brittany
Thanks Dylan!
Teresa
It's nice to know that these sauces are vegan. So many products, and recipes for that matter, are unnecessarily full of animal products. It's nice to have a vegetable soup just be a vegetable soup, you know? There are a lot of great Filipino restaurants in Vancouver, but I haven't experimented much with cooking that cuisine at home. These sauces and marinades look like a good place to start.
Brittany
I totally agree. It's so frustrating when you just KNOW a product would be just as good if they removed the animal products. Ugh. I hope you give Pulo a try, I'm looking forward to sampling more products!
angela
This is such a great recipe! I loooove peanut sauce haha ? and my sister is a vegan so this is the perfect recipe to make for
her!
Brittany
Me too! And this one was so different than any peanut sauces I make from scratch!
Rob Kutch
Love this recipe. Thank you very much for publishing this. Where can you find these Pulo mixes? Are they high in sodium?
Hope you and your family and friends have a safe, wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
I appreciate YOU!!
Rob Kutch
★★★★★
Brittany
Thanks Rob!
The Pulo sauces and marinades have different levels of sodium, some very low and others a little higher. This Kare Kare Toasted Peanut sauce is super low in sodium, only 80mg per 1/2 cup. There Mango Chili marinade is another good choice with only 120mg of sodium per tbsp. I believe I may have seen their sauces in Wal-Mart but I'll double check and let you know!
Brittany
Hi again Rob! Pulo products are available at most grocery stores in Canada. If you're Canadian based you can let me know your location and I could find you a store!