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.
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 
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)
I have followed Mark Bittman for years and I mourned for weeks when he left his Minimalist column. So I was delighted to learn recently that all the purple carrot recipes are online and searchable. This is a delicious caramel sauce – better than his NYT published recipe. I made this almost exactly as the recipe specified except I added some chili-garlic paste at the end to the adult plates. Very very good and refreshing
In my meat-eating past, my favorite Chinese dish was the crispy honey chili chicken. This is better. The glaze is not goopy but clings perfectly to the tofu.
Tofu: 1 pack of tofu (the recipe specifies soft, I had only firm) cut into 3 inchx1/2 inch long fingers. Dredge in a dry mixture of ¾ c cornstarch and ¼ c cornmeal, salt and pepper. I dredged them twice. Shallow fry in a nonstick skillet till light golden on all sides (about 10 min). Empty oil from pan
Sauce: whisk ½ c water, ½ c rice vinegar,1/3 c sugar, 4 minced garlic cloves, 2-3 tsp Asian chili garlic sauce, 2 tsp cornstarch together. Cook till they form a slurry (about 2-3 min)
Add tofu back to glaze, garnish with cilantro serve with rice
I stir fried the rice in some sesame oil and soy sauce but that isn’t really necessary.
Tofu Chorizo: inspired by a purple carrot recipe I read today. Start with some oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 onion, ½ a pepper, 4 cloves of garlic and 1 packet of crumbled firm tofu. Stir and roast on medium high heat till nice and brown. The original recipe added 11/2 tbsp chili powder. I added a Brazilian barbecue rub which I found in my pantry. It was a good choice – the sugars caramelized and everything turned toasty.
While the tofu was browning I
1) opened a bag of angel hair slaw
2) made my favorite slaw dressing- ¾ cup yogurt, 1 clove garlic, a handful of cilantro, half a jalapeño, 2-3 tbsp olive oil , 1 lime and my secret ingredient – 2 tsp of tahini. Give it a whir in the vitamix and season
3) opened a can of veg beans in tomato sauce
4) sliced some onions
5) toasted some tortillas
6) left the coleslaw “deconstructed” because of a fussy 9 year old
7) opened up some sour cream (for same fussy 9 year old)
Took about 30 min total and I have leftovers for lunch! The tofu chorizo technique is outstanding – I will definitely use it again perhaps with some barbecue sauce
Delhi Girl Meets Food 