Make crunchy tofu- dry tofu out, add salt , pepper, sesame seeds (or panko) and soy sauce. Bake at 400 for 15-20 min
Make the peanut sauce (from America’s text kitchen)
5 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp chili crisp or more, 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp crushed garlic and some hot water to make creamy paste (less than half cup)
Add to noddles with veggies (I did cabbage, scallions, herbs)
Press out water from firm tofu using pressure or microwave it for a minute and squeeze.
In a ziploc- add sliced tofu (I sliced into fingers), pickle juice and yellow mustard with some pepper and soy sauce. Marinate for an hour or so. Drain the tofu.
In another ziploc, add about half a cup or so of fish fry (cornmeal with seasoning – I used the zatarain brand). Add the tofu and shake it around.
Fry at 350 for 3 minutes till golden brown.
We ate these in Vietnamese spring rolls with pickled veggies, jalapeños, cucumber, rice noodles, herbs and a gochugang- peanut butter sauce. So good!
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.
Mark Bittman is my favorite food writer. I recently came across a 2007 column of his (I do miss the Minimalist) in which he ,very sensibly, talked about using more veggies and less noodles while cooking. So when I saw the vegan recipe he described, I immediately ordered tofu skins (which I’ve never cooked with) and rice sticks off the internet. Like all Bittman recipes, this one is a masterclass in simplicity of techniques and strength of flavors. I did double the rice noodles and added more soy sauce that he calls for. Simply fabulous! I bet this will be even better with haricot verts.
First boil some water and soak 4 oz of tofu skins (10 min) and 4-8 oz of thick rice sticks (20 minutes).
In a pan- heat 2 tbsp of regular oil and 2 tbsp of sesame oil. Fry up 2 tbsp of chopped ginger and 1-2 chopped green chillies for a few seconds. Add a pound of green beans (I used frozen) and cook covered for 10 mintues or so. Add tofu skins cut into strips if they are wide. Cook for 5 mintues or so covered. Add rice noodles and 2-4 tbsp of soy sauce. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with chopped green chillies in vinegar.
I do like Chinese American food, the sweet salty combination is very appealing. I’ve made many versions of Gen Tso’s tofu and this one may be my favorite. The sauce is adapted from a gen tso chicken recipe by Grace Parisi.
First crisp the tofu in your favorite way – today I pressed the tofu, diced it into 1 inch chunks and dredged it in 1 tbsp corn flour, 1 tbsp panko breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp sesame seeds. Then I pan fried the tofu in 1 tbsp oil till the tofu was browned all over. Air frying the tofu works well too.
In the same pan, add another 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp of chopped garlic and 4 scallions chopped into 1 inch chunks. Add the sauce (1/2 cup vegetable broth, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp sriracha) till it starts to simmer. Make a slurry with 1 tsp of cornflour and 1-2 tbsp of water and add 1-2 tsp at a time till the sauce thickens.
Add the tofu and 1 tsp of sesame oil and toss.
Enjoy over rice 
So lately I’ve watched a lot of Maangchi- a Korean lady with a fabulous youtube cooking channel. Her videos are entertaining and educational- she cooks and talks just like grandma. Of course, Korean food is not known for its vast vegetarian options so when this potentially customizable one popped up- I was all on it. These noodles are very very different texturally- they are sticky and transperant and very chewy, not unpleasantly so but it was unexpected.
I had to order the sweet potato starch noodles from Amazon but I had everything else- well mostly. Here is Maangchi’s recipe and my version follows below.
Soak: 7-8 dried shitake mushrooms in 1/2 cup of warm water for 30 minutes. Soak 8 oz of the sweet potato starch noodles in cold water for 40 minutes
Protein: I used one block of frozen tofu (defrosted and squeezed and then crumbled). Marinate with 2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp sesame oil for 15-20 min and fry up in a non-stick pan till browned.
Egg garnish: Beat 2 eggs with some salt and make a small thin pancake on the same non stick pan on very low heat. Cut into strips
Seasoning sauce: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp black pepper and 5 garlic cloves minced.
Now assemble and chop:
In a large pan: chop the soaked mushrooms, 8 oz of crimini mushrooms chopped into strips, 1 large onion in slices, 1 large carrot into matchsticks. Toss all the vegetables with 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup water.
Add 8 oz baby spinach on top- do not mix, snip the soaked noodles with scissors (this is impossible prior to soaking) and lay on top- do not mix. Pour seasoning sauce over this (yes- do not mix). Add a tight fitting lid and cook for 10 mintues on moderate heat. After 10 minutes – stir well and cook for another few minutes till the water is almost all absorbed by the noodles.
Decant into a large serving platter, add tofu and egg strips. Add 1 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds.
Serve with sriracha if you wish.
I like stir fries – they are a fun, easy way to experiment with new flavors and textures.
This one needs a few speciality ingredients but I found all of them in my local Whole Foods
I tackle the stir fry prep first divided into veggies, protein, flavorings and garnish. This recipe is inspired from a Bon Appétit article
Veggies; half a small cabbage cut into big 2 inch or so cubes
Protein: Andrea Nguyen from Viet world kitchen talks up frozen tofu a lot – so I tried it. Freeze and defrost a block of firm tofu – it changes the texture amazingly – the water just drains out. Then crumble tofu into 1 inch or so jagged crumbles
Flavorings: 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp garlic, the whites of 6 scallions and 1 tsp vegetable oil
Garnish: the greens of 6 scallions and 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Sauce: 1/3 cup mirin 1/3 cup soy sauce 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar and 1 tsp (or more) of sambal olek , 1 tbsp sesame oil
Boil a pot of water- add udon (14 oz) and cook according to package directions but a minute or two less. Cool immediately and drain
In a very hot non stick pan- add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and cook the cabbage (tossing frequently) till charred in places and soft. Remove cabbage to udon bowl
In the same pan, add 1 tbsp vegetable oil and add the crumbled tofu with 1 tbsp corn starch just shaken over it. Cook over high heat till tofu is browned
Make a hole in the center, add the flavorings. Cook for 30 sec and then toss with tofu
Add cabbage, udon and sauce- coat noodles with sauce
Add garnish and serve with additional sambal olek
This is fairly nutritious and made about 5 servings for us (dinner and lunch the next day)
Here is a Gen Tso Tofu recipe that works. It’s modified from a purple carrot recipe. Gen Tso is not healthy (it has 1/4 cup of sugar) but it is delicious and divided into 4 portions- it is fine for an occasional treat. I served this on white rice
Step 1: Make crispy tofu: You can dredge pressed or dried tofu in cornstarch and fry or use my airfried tofu recipe
Step 2: Make sauce: Mix 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic and 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger. Add 1-2 jalapenos sliced in half with the seeds removed
Step 3: heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, add the tofu, add 3 scallions cut in half and chopped into large chunks (2-3 inches). Once the scallions wilt a little, add sauce, stir for 2-3 minutes till tofu becomes sticky. Serve on rice.
Press tofu for 20 min
Cut into half inch pieces
Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tsp sesame oil
Toss with 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp sesame seeds and 1 tbsp Panko breadcrumbs
Airfry at 400 F for 25 minutes
Quick wonton soup recipe
Broth: Boil for 15-20 minutes: 1 quart vegetable stock ( I used better than bouillon), 1 tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp ginger chopped fine, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tsp sambal olek
Toppings:
Tofu: 1 14 oz package- stir fried till brown all around
Wontons: I used prepared potstickers (shitake and vegeatable dumplings)
Greens: wilted spinach
Herbs: cilantro, scallions
Chinkiang vinegar (or seasoned rice wine vinegar) with chopped chilies for heat
Noodles: Boiled rice noodles
Mix all together, add a squeeze of lime and some peanuts for crunch with extra sriracha if you wish
Delhi Girl Meets Food 