Oriental mushrooms and tofu

I know I live in a nation that has a fondness for Chinese Take away meals. However, I am someone who rarely orders a take away or goes out to restaurants, whatever their ethnic specialism. Therefore oriental flavours are still very new to me. So I decided to make this Oriental mushrooms and tofu dish to introduce myself to aspects of this cuisine.

I know this recipe is not authentic to a particular country or region, but some of the ingredients listed here are associated with Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean cuisine. For me experimenting with and tasting these ingredients continues to be a good way to widen my food and cultural knowledge.
The mixed oriental mushrooms used in this dish were grown in the UK, and the pak choi or bok choy was grown in Kent.
Oriental mushrooms and tofu
Serves 2
Ingredients (can be doubled to serve 4)
250g deep fried tofu cut into chunks. I deep fried my own tofu pieces in peanut oil.
2 tablespoon of soy or tamari sauce
½ teaspoon of chilli oil
1 tablespoons sunflower oil
½ tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
100ml water
150g carrots, cut into matchsticks
125 g mixed oriental mushrooms, thickly sliced
4 spring onions , cut into 4cm strips
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 medium pak choi, thickly sliced
Fresh coriander, coarsely chopped, to serve

Method
Preheat oven gas mark 6

Place tofu chunks on the baking tray and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce and chilli oil. Cook in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Put the sunflower oil and sesame oil in a wok or frying pan and gently heat. Add the carrots and cook for 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until tender, but with some bite. Add the hoisin, remaining tamari or soy sauce, rice vinegar and water, and continue to cook for a few minutes.

Stir in the spring onions, roasted tofu chunks, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Using a separate wok or frying pan, stir fry the pak choi for a few minutes, until cooked but still crunchy.

Serve with plain boiled rice, with a mound of pak choi and the tofu and mushrooms spooned alongside. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve.

Adapted from Jane Noriaka's New Vegetarian Entertaining