Seafood Tofu Stew is a delicious and nourishing homestyle dish that is super easy to make. If you need a quick, hot one-pot dinner for a cold day, this stew is perfect for you. {Gluten-Free}
You may not have heard of seafood tofu stew before, since it’s not something you’d see on a restaurant menu. But it’s something my family would make in the winter, since it’s so soothing and even a little bit luxurious, despite being so simple to put together.
The stew has a mix of seafood (I used shrimp, clams, and crab sticks), soft tofu cubes, peas, and mushrooms in an aromatic chicken broth. The ingredient list isn’t long at 11 items, but the satisfaction potential is huge. The seafood and mushrooms create a lovely umami together with the broth, while the aromatics give it a heavenly fragrance.
Seafood tofu stew ingredients
Frozen vs. fresh seafood
While you can use fresh seafood and get stellar results, this dish is also great with a frozen seafood mix to save time, and probably also money. I like to keep some frozen seafood on hand for exactly this dish, as well as for seafood pasta. That way, I can whip up a tasty seafood dish on a moment’s notice.
Give soft tofu a try
I know that soft tofu is not as popular outside Asia, as the firm one (or extra firm) is more common, but hear me out! Soft tofu has a delightful creamy texture that goes so nicely with the silky broth in this recipe. You’ll want to use a spoon, not chopsticks, to eat it, so that the cubes will stay intact. It’s important to stir gently so that the cubes don’t break as you’re cooking.
Good chicken stock will elevate your seafood tofu stew
Since this recipe is relatively simple, the chicken broth plays an important role in the flavor profile of the dish. For this reason, the stew will really benefit from using a richer chicken stock or broth. I love both the Kirkland organic chicken stock from Costco and Better than Bouillon roasted chicken base. Also, homemade chicken broth will work wonders.
Alternative mushroom types
I used shimeji mushrooms in this recipe, because it’s fast to cook through and its mild flavor works perfectly with the seafood. However, you can also use regular white mushrooms, brown mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, or enoki mushrooms.
If you use white, brown or oyster mushrooms, you might need to increase the cooking time by 2 to 3 minutes. If using enoki mushroom, reduce the cooking time to 1 to 2 minutes.
How to make seafood tofu stew
- Saute the green onion and ginger
- Cook the seafood
- Add the broth and tofu and bring to a boil
- Add the green peas and simmer
- Braise with the mushrooms
- Finish up with salt and pepper
Tofu is not a meat replacement
Tofu seems to have a reputation in the West as being primarily a meat substitute, but I think that’s unfair. In China, tofu has been made for thousands of years and is really its own food category. It can take on textures and flavors that meat cannot, and its nutritional profile is as much of a complement to meat as an alternative to it. If you’re hesitant to try this stew because of tofu’s reputation as “fake meat”, please take the chance – this dish will show you the light!
More easy homestyle recipes
- Beef and Flat Bean Stir Fry
- Crab Roe Tofu with Salted Duck Eggs (蟹黄豆腐)
- Cabbage Glass Noodles Stir Fry
- Mushroom Fried Rice (蘑菇炒饭)
- Chinese Zucchini Stir Fry
- Pan Fried Tofu (脆皮豆腐)
Seafood Tofu Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1/2 lb (225 g) mixed seafood (about 1 and 1/2 cup shrimp, scallops and / or squid)
- 2 teaspoons ginger , minced
- 1 green onion , sliced
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 pack (1 lb / 450 g) soft tofu , cubed
- 1 pack (5 oz / 150 g) shimeji mushroom (or other preferred mushrooms)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium dutch oven or a medium skillet. When oil is hot, add ginger and green onion. Stir a few times, until fragrant.
- Add the seafood and stir until the surface is cooked, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth and carefully add the tofu. Bring to a boil then reduce heat.
- Add the green peas. Simmer for 5 minutes or so.
- Add the mushrooms and keep simmer until the mushrooms turn tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Drizzle into the broth and stir immediately to mix it in. Cook until the broth thickens. Transfer everything to a serving bowl and serve hot as a main dish, or one of the main dishes in a multi-course meal.
Notes
- You can use fresh seafood or frozen. Any mix would work, but some of my favorite items are shrimps, scallop, clams, and crab sticks.
This is so simple and so delicious. I love recipes like this. I definitely want to make it! Thanks.
Maggie, I want to thank you so much for this website and all the recipes and links to things like different Asian spices. I have always loved Asian food and now that I am disabled, and have found you, I’m going to try my hand at several of your dishes.
I read your story on the Braised Pig Feet recipe, and just had to tell you. I grew up in the South and we were poor, although we kids didn’t know it till some other well to do kids pointed that out to us in a snob kind of way. Anyway we raised a lot of what we ate, and I didn’t know I was Chinese…smile not really, but we ate all of the critter to. We enjoyed chicken feet in our dumplings with necks and backs. And I grew up loving pig intestine, and dishes like liver & lytes (pork liver and lung cooked in a gravy) hog head cheese(souse) and all those good things.
Thanks again, and happy cooking, your new friend Tim
Hi Tim, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving the kind words!
It’s interesting that different cultures share so many similarities. The dishes you described really sound like Chinese food 🙂
Until now, people around me still like eating chicken feet and necks, and any part from pig, no matter in the big city or poorer area. I didn’t eat those too often, but I have a few favorite dishes like the braised pig feet and chicken head (sounds freaky enough?). It’s interesting that we also have a dish of pork liver and lung too (super delicious one!), but it’s a salad that’s drizzled with hot sauce. I should share that one on my blog some time!
Hope my recipes will be helpful and happy cooking!
Looks so colorful and very delicious ! I love seafood! Pinned!!!
This soup looks so comforting and delicious! I love simple and clear broth soups like this that are full of flavor 🙂 It’s been really cold here too so a big bowl of soup sounds perfect!
This looks so delicious and colourful…
Made this earlier in the week and it’s great. Goes together quickly and very tasty. Had the other half of it last night: warmed me right up. Thanks Ms. Zhu, please keep up the great work. (Wish I knew how to attach my picture here).
So glad to hear you enjoyed the dish! I just made it again once you mentioned it because the weather’s perfect for the dish 🙂
Hi Ms. Maggie! Can I use seafood tofu in this dish? Is it okay if I add broccoli too?
I would like to try and cook this on weekend but I am not an expert so your advise would mean a lot to me.
Thank you so much!
I loved this recipe! I didn’t have any chicken stock on me, so I used your trick for a fast seafood broth (since I always have dried shrimp & scallops in my fridge) with some defrosted seafood mix and finished with a bit of white pepper – absolutely delicious!
Hi- I’m wondering about the measurements for the seafood. Is it 1 1/2 pound of each kind of seafood? With a total of 8 pounds? Thank you
Sorry it’s a typo! It’s 1/2 lb (or 225 g) of total mixed seafood. You can use either one or a combination of them.