Tahu Kecap Kudus - Fried Tofu in Sweet Soy Sauce

Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) is an indispensable soy sauce in Indonesian cuisine. We use in many of our recipes, such as semur ayam, tempeh kecap, ayam kecap, lapis daging, and sambal tomat kecap.

Today I am going to share a recipe for tahu kecap Kudus (fried tofu in sweet soy sauce). We will need kecap manis as one of the main ingredients to prepare its sauce.

Ingredients for tahu kecap kudus

1. Firm/extra-firm tofu

First, you will need two blocks of firm/extra-firm tofu, each weighing 450 grams (1 lb). Alternatively, you can also use fried tofu cubes if your supermarket sells them.

2. Kecap manis

Kecap manis is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce. The color is that of soy sauce, but the consistency is much thicker and almost honey-like in viscosity.

Many Indonesian recipes rely on kecap manis. If you love cooking Indonesian recipes at home, I highly recommend stocking your pantry with a bottle or two of kecap manis.

If you need a substitute, you can try mixing 50% soy sauce with 50% coconut palm sugar. For example, replace a tablespoon of kecap manis with 1⁄2 tablespoon soy sauce and 1⁄2 tablespoon coconut palm sugar.

3. Water/chicken stock

If you love a richer and more savory dish, I highly recommend using chicken stock or vegetable stock.

4. Aromatics, spices, and herbs

We will need garlic, shallot, red chilies, ginger, galangal, terasi (shrimp paste), and daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves).

If this is your first time working with terasi/shrimp paste, you can read more about it from my post on kangkung tumis terasi and sambal terasi.

How to cook the tofu dish

1. Fry tofu

Drain the tofu blocks well, then cut each block into eight pieces and pan-fry over medium heat with a little bit of oil in a non-stick frying pan or a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet until golden brown.

Set aside to cool, then cut each fried tofu cube into two pieces. You will get a total of thirty-two pieces of fried tofu cubes.

2. Grind spice paste

Use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind garlic, shallot, red chilies, ginger, galangal, and toasted shrimp paste into a smooth paste.

3. Cook the sauce

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat. Sauté spice paste and Indonesian for 3-5 minutes, or until fragrant. Add sweet soy sauce and chicken stock/water, mix well and cook until boiling.

4. Add tofu

Add fried tofu cubes into the wok, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook without a lid until the sauce is reduced and thick. Stir frequently towards the end until the sauce glazes the tofu.

5. Serve

Transfer the dish to a serving plate and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Other Indonesian tofu dishes to try

There are so many Indonesian tofu dishes to choose from, and we are truly spoiled for choice when it comes to tofu.

Aside from tahu kecap kudus, you can try cooking some of our tofu dishes such as:

• tahu telor (tofu omelette with peanut sauce)
• ayam tahu bacem (Javanese deep-fried chicken and tofu)
• tahu gejrot (fried tofu in chili soy sauce)
• tahu goreng Medan (fried tofu salad with peanut sauce)
• pindang tahu goreng (fried tofu in spicy broth)
• tahu goreng lengkuas (fried tofu in galangal)
• martabak tahu (pancake stuffed tofu)
• tahu goreng sambal sereh (fried tofu with spicy lemongrass relish)
• tahu goreng bumbu kuning (turmeric and spiced fried tofu)
• tahu goreng bumbu bali (Balinese sauce fried tofu)