Soy-Braised Eggs & Tofu (Lu Dan Lu Dou Fu)
The braise that lives on Chinese stoves all week: eggs and tofu steeping in a soy broth you reuse.
The story
Lu (braising liquid) is a Chinese kitchen institution — a pot of soy, sugar and water that everything takes a bath in. Eggs are the classic: the whites go mahogany and savory. This small-batch version is ready in 30 minutes and improves overnight.
Ingredients (5 + pantry staples)
- Eggs — 6, hard-boiled and cracked all over
- Firm tofu — 1 block (14 oz / 400 g), thick slices
- Soy sauce — 1/3 cup / 80 ml
- Dark soy sauce (optional) — 1 tsp for color
- Scallions — 2, knotted
Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): sugar (2 tbsp). Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.
Steps
- Boil eggs 8 minutes; crack shells all over (or peel for a faster soak).
- Simmer soy sauce, sugar, scallions and 2 cups / 500 ml water 5 minutes.
- Add eggs and tofu; simmer 10 minutes, then rest 10 more. Eat over rice with a spoonful of the broth.
Swaps
The same braise takes mushrooms, boiled peanuts, or chicken wings. Strain and freeze the liquid — it is a reusable asset, that is the entire lu concept.
More 30-minute dishes
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The soup this whole site was built around: a whole chunk of pork and a daikon, half an hour, then celery and salt. That is the recipe.
Steamed Fish with Ginger & Soy (Qing Zheng Yu)
The Cantonese gold standard of "let the fish be fish" — steam 10 minutes, smother in hot oil and soy.
Corn, Carrot & Pork Soup (Yu Mi Hu Luo Bo Tang)
The sweetest soup in the Chinese canon — corn does all the flavor work while you do nothing.