Many of you know of my love for Mark Bittman’s recipes. This one is nearly perfect and tastes so complex for such little effort. It’s the mix of the savory with the burnt caramel that makes it so good. The recipe is for tofu in a caramel glaze. Here is my version.

This is a recipe that works better with pressed tofu. Put a heavy weight on your tofu for 10-15 min. Today I had frozen tofu – just unfreeze and squeeze the water out like a sponge – the tofu has an entirely different texture, it’s quite delicious.

Chop up 1 lb of tofu into bite size pieces.

Measure out 1/4 cup soy sauce and chop up 1 large onion into slices (about one cup)

Caramelize 1/2 cup of sugar. I always start with a little water and a non stick pan and I swirl the caramel around. In this recipe – it’s important to go towards the slightly burnt end of the caramel- so wait till you can just start to smell the caramel. Immediately add the soy sauce (protect your hand from splatters- the caramel will cause severe burns) and the onion. Cook for 10 min on low. I added a little extra water here.

Add the tofu and 1 tbsp of black pepper (it’s practically the only spice here- you need a lot) and cover and cook for another 5-10 min

Finish with 1 tbsp of butter, 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar and some scallions. Taste – add more salt and more vinegar if needed (I always need both)

Serve with rice and maybe sriracha and more vinegar on the side.