Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Delicious dishes.

I tried this recipe with the hope of finding a tofu recipe that would produce non-mushy tofu. This was close but I think it needed to stay under the broiler a little longer. Anyone have any suggestions for how to make asian restaurant-style yummy tofu? I try to not eat too much soy but any attempts I've made at making it at home in the past have not been too successful.

If tofu isn't your thing, I would bet that this marinade would be fantastic on chicken or a white fish. A side benefit is that it makes your house smell AMAZING while it is cooking!

Asian Style Baked Tofu

1 lb extra firm tofu

Marinade:

1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 c chopped scallions
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
pinch cayenne
pinch fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

-Put all the marinade ingredients in a jar or plastic bag. Shake until well mixed.
-Press the block of tofu between an old dishtowel or paper towels to remove excess water.
-Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch slices and lay side-by-side in a flat baking pan.
-Spread the marinade over and under the tofu slices.
-Cover and marinate 1 hour or more in the fridge, turning once or twice.
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Drain off excess marinade.
-Bake for 30 minutes. Turn over halfway through baking. Broil for a few minutes on each side to give tofu a crusty finish.


**I found this recipe awhile ago when I did a google search for baked tofu recipes. If it's yours, please let me know so I can give you credit!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It seems to me Asian restaurants use one or more of the following tricks:

1. dip the tofu into some sort of starch (probably cornstarch) and then flash-fry it. So it doesn't look/taste deep fried, but that's what makes it nice and firm.
2. freezing the tofu - i am not totally clear on this, but another trick I keep running into is draining/pressing the tofu, then freezing, then slicing - justbento.com and justhungry.com talk about it.
3. use the cornstarch trick with some other sort of coating before cooking - i cant remember where i saw this, but one vegan cookbook had recipes where the tofu was dredged in cornstarch and Energ-G egg replacer.