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There are some dishes that feel like a warm hug in a bowl, and this black pepper beef and tofu pot is absolutely one of them. Silky soft tofu, tender enoki mushrooms, and juicy marinated beef slices all braised together in a rich, deeply savoury sauce until everything is glossy, flavourful, and completely irresistible. It’s the kind of meal that warms you from the inside out and tastes like it took hours to make, even though it comes together in under 20 minutes.

This dish is inspired by the classic Chinese clay pot cooking tradition, where simple, humble ingredients are transformed into something extraordinary through the magic of slow braising in a flavourful sauce. The technique here is beautifully layered. The tofu and enoki mushrooms go in first and soak up the sauce as they cook, becoming deeply flavoured and incredibly tender. The marinated beef goes in last, which means it stays juicy and perfectly cooked rather than becoming tough and overcooked from sitting in the braising liquid for too long.

The sauce is what ties everything together. A combination of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce gives it incredible depth and that gorgeous deep brown colour. A touch of sugar balances the saltiness. And the flour thickens everything into a glossy, coating sauce that clings to every piece of tofu and beef in the most satisfying way. The dark soy sauce in particular gives the finished dish that beautiful rich colour that makes it look as incredible as it tastes.

This is also a brilliantly versatile recipe. Serve it over steamed white rice for a complete and deeply satisfying weeknight dinner. Serve it straight from the pot at the table as a shared dish for a casual dinner with family or friends. However you serve it, the combination of silky tofu, earthy enoki mushrooms, tender beef, and that incredible glossy sauce is absolutely guaranteed to become a firm favourite in your regular dinner rotation.

Ingredients

For the beef marinade:

200g beef slices, thinly sliced
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp cooking oil

For the pot:

80g enoki mushrooms, roots trimmed
300g tofu, cut into thick slices or cubes
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp spring onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
Cooking oil, for pan frying

For the sauce:

2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 cup water
2 tbsp flour
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

To garnish:

Spring onion, finely chopped
Red chilli, finely chopped
Coriander, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Marinate the beef

The very first thing to do before anything else is get your beef marinating. The longer it sits the more tender and flavourful it will be, so getting this done at the very beginning gives it maximum time to do its thing while you prep everything else.

Place your 200g beef slices in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp rice wine, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1 tsp black pepper powder, 1/2 tbsp flour, and 1 tbsp cooking oil. Using your hands or a spoon, mix everything together thoroughly until every slice of beef is evenly coated in the marinade. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

❤️ Tip: The flour in the marinade is not just a thickening agent here. It coats the surface of each beef slice and acts as a protective barrier during cooking that helps the beef retain its moisture and juiciness. It also helps the beef hold onto the braising sauce later, which means every piece of beef gets gloriously coated in all that flavour. Don’t skip it.

2. Mix the sauce

Before you turn on the stove, mix your braising sauce in a bowl or measuring jug so it’s ready to pour in the moment you need it. Combine 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 cup water, 2 tbsp flour, salt to taste, and black pepper to taste. Whisk everything together thoroughly until the flour is fully dissolved with no lumps remaining and the sauce is smooth and uniform.

Taste the sauce at this point and check the seasoning. It should taste bold, savoury, and well-seasoned since it’s going to be diluted slightly by the moisture released from the tofu and mushrooms during cooking. Getting the balance right at this stage means the finished dish will taste perfectly seasoned.

❤️ Tip: Make sure the flour is fully dissolved into the sauce before it goes into the pan. Any undissolved lumps of flour will cook into clumps in the finished sauce rather than thickening it smoothly and evenly. A small whisk or a fork works well for this. Keep stirring right to the bottom of the bowl where flour tends to settle.

3. Prepare the tofu and mushrooms

Cut your 300g tofu into cubes, roughly 1.5-2cm thick. Tofu this size holds its shape well during braising without falling apart, and the thickness gives each piece a beautifully soft, silky interior that is absolutely wonderful in the finished dish. If you’re using firm tofu it will hold its shape slightly better than soft or silken tofu. Both work well but give slightly different results. Firm tofu gives you more structure while soft tofu gives you a more delicate, melt-in-your-mouth result.

Trim the woody roots from the bottom of your 80g enoki mushrooms and separate them into smaller clusters. Enoki mushrooms cook very quickly and become silky and tender in the braising sauce. They also absorb the sauce beautifully and carry an incredible amount of flavour in their delicate strands.

❤️ Tip: If you have time, you can lightly pan-fry the tofu slices in a little oil before adding them to the pot. Pan-frying the tofu first gives it a golden crust on the outside that holds up better during braising and adds a slight nutty flavour that is really lovely in the finished dish. It’s an optional extra step but one that is well worth doing if you have the time and inclination.

4. Sauté the aromatics

Heat a generous drizzle of cooking oil in a wide, deep pan, wok, or clay pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the 3-4 minced garlic cloves, 1 tbsp chopped spring onion, and 2 tbsp chopped onion. Sauté everything together, stirring frequently, for about 1-2 minutes until the aromatics are softened, fragrant, and the onion is translucent and just starting to turn lightly golden at the edges.

5. Layer the tofu and mushrooms

Once the aromatics are fragrant and softened, arrange the tofu cubes and enoki mushrooms directly in the pan in an even layer over the aromatics. Try to arrange them as neatly as possible so they cover the bottom of the pan evenly rather than stacking up haphazardly, which means they’ll braise more evenly and absorb the sauce more consistently.

Give the sauce mixture one final whisk to make sure the flour hasn’t settled at the bottom, then pour it evenly all over the tofu and mushrooms. Place the lid on the pan and bring everything up to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Let everything braise with the lid on. During this time the tofu will absorb the sauce and become deeply flavoured all the way through, the mushrooms will soften and become silky, and the sauce will begin to thicken and reduce into that gorgeous glossy consistency.

❤️ Tip: Resist the urge to stir or disturb the tofu too much during this braising stage. Tofu is delicate, especially soft or silken varieties, and too much stirring will break the pieces apart. Instead, gently spoon the sauce over the top of the tofu occasionally using a ladle or spoon to make sure everything stays evenly coated and nothing on top dries out.

6. Add the beef

After the sauce has thickened and reduced, it’s time to add the marinated beef. Place the beef slices over the top of the tofu and mushrooms, spreading them out as evenly as possible in a single layer so they cook through evenly rather than sitting in a thick pile. Spoon some of the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the beef to make sure every slice is moistened and coated.

Place the lid back on the pan and continue to braise over medium heat until the beef is just cooked through and tender. Remove from the heat immediately once the beef is done.

❤️ Tip: Adding the beef last rather than at the beginning is the key to keeping it tender and juicy. Beef that goes in too early and braises for too long becomes tough, dry, and chewy. Adding it right at the end means it cooks gently and quickly in the hot sauce and stays perfectly tender. The marinated flour coating also thickens the sauce slightly as the beef cooks, making it even more glossy and coating.

7. Garnish and serve

Scatter a generous amount of finely chopped spring onion, chopped red chilli, and roughly chopped coriander over the top of the finished hot pot. Serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Extra Tips

1. Choosing the right tofu

The type of tofu you use makes a real difference to the final texture of this dish. Firm tofu holds its shape well during braising and gives you clean, defined pieces that look beautiful in the finished dish. Soft or silken tofu gives you a more delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture that is incredibly luxurious but requires more gentle handling to avoid breaking apart. Both are delicious. For beginners, firm tofu is easier to work with. For a more indulgent, restaurant-style result, soft tofu is worth trying once you’re comfortable with the recipe.

2. Use the flour

You’ll notice that flour appears in both the beef marinade and the braising sauce, and this is entirely intentional. In the marinade, the flour coats the beef and helps it retain moisture and cling to the sauce during cooking. In the braising sauce, the flour acts as a thickening agent that gives the finished sauce that gorgeous glossy, coating consistency rather than a thin, watery broth. Make sure the flour is fully dissolved in the sauce before adding it to the pan and that the marinade flour is fully mixed into the beef before cooking.

3. Make it your own

This recipe is a wonderful base that can be customised in lots of different ways. Add sliced shiitake mushrooms or oyster mushrooms along with the enoki for extra mushroom flavour and variety. Add a spoonful of Doubanjiang to the sauce for a spicy, fermented depth of flavour. Add a drizzle of sesame oil over the finished dish just before serving for extra fragrance.

4. Serving suggestions

This dish is most traditionally and most deliciously served over steamed white rice, with the sauce spooned generously over both the rice and the hot pot ingredients. It also works beautifully as a shared dish at the centre of the table alongside a simple green salad and some steamed bok choy dressed with oyster sauce for a complete and deeply satisfying meal. For a more casual dinner, serve it straight from the pan with a big bowl of rice and let everyone help themselves.

Black Pepper Beef & Tofu Pot