Okay, so I was always certain that I hated tofu when I was younger… until I realised I just had no idea what I was doing with it. I have since learned that the taste of tofu is all in the marinated or coatings you use. Tofu is simply an amazing carrier for flavours and can have a beautiful texture depending on what you do with it.
So, today I decided I was going to have a noodle soup for dinner. I am a huge fan of a nice simple noodle soup full of veggies but today I wanted to go all fancy and throw some tofu into the mix. And that is how this recipe was born. An easy fried marinated tofu which is spicy with a ginger bite.
I used a silken tofu today (as it is all I had in the cupboard), but a nice firm tofu would be far better at holding together in slices. Silken tofu still worked as the texture is beautifully smooth and the edges charred wonderfully, but again, a firmer tofu which would hold its shape would be my usual tofu of choice for this type of cooking.
I pressed my tofu before use and I simply use two chopping boards, some kitchen towel and a 1kg tub of peanut butter and left it for just 15 minutes. Easy.
This marinated tofu would work with many other dishes such as a nice, crisp stir-fry or in a bun with a salad.
The recipe:
Ingredients
1tbsp tamari
1tsp red pepper flakes
1 inch of ginger grated
1/4tsp garlic powder
1/2tsp turmeric
1tsp agave syrup
1/2 block of pressed tofu
Roughly 1-2 top oil (I used sesame)
Mix up all of the ingredients in to a bowl apart from the tofu. Slice the tofu into 6 slices (mine crumbled slightly, but that is okay, these smaller bits crisped up beautifully during frying). In a dish, lay the tofu out in a single layer. Spoon roughly a teaspoon of marinade on each slice and rub it in with the back of the spoon. Once each piece of tofu has some marinade on, pour the marinade in to the dish around the tofu and gently lift each tofu slice to get the marinade under the slices. Let the tofu sit for a minimum of 15 minutes or until it is needed. The longer it is left in the marinade the stronger the flavour in the tofu. To finish the tofu, drizzle a small amount of oil into a frying pan, on a medium to high heat. Place the tofu carefully in the pan and cook on the first side for a couple of minutes, until the underside starts to look charred. Then flip, and do the same on the other side. Serve however desired.
Herbivore in the Kitchen 