Vegan Mofo 1st; Marinated Tofu

Before my ten month trip in Asia, I wasn’t really much of a Tofu eater, aside from at Wagamama’s. I liked it but was a bit scared to cook with it. Wow did that change when I was travelling. I ate Tofu in Australia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Japanese style Tofu in India. My partner went from hating tofu with a passion, to stealing my dinner of Tofu steaks! Then brain storming ideas on how to make it ourselves at home.

The best Tofu will always be from June this year in Dharamshala, India, home of the Dalai Lama and lots of Tibetan, Western and Japanese Buddhist. 

Lung Ta was mentioned in the Lonely Planet and on my Happy Cow App  as being a home from home for the Japanese masses. We still dream of their Tofu steaks, which was part of a set menu and cost about £2. My partner after tasting mine, ordered two Tofu Steaks to eat with his dinner. (http://www.happycow.net/reviews.php?id=24832)

So we bought some Cauldron brand firm tofu in water. I have never had too much luck with the Cauldron Pre-Marinated Tofu, I used to eat it in stir fry, but it was always a little dry.

So I scouted the internet and Veganomicon for some ideas, what I came up with was an Asian style marinated using;

Tamari soy sauce

Cider vinegar

Grated Ginger

Grated Garlic

Chopped Onion

Sweet chilli sauce

Chilli flakes

Tip away all the water and wrap the Tofu in kitchen paper, put the Tofu block between two chopping boards and put a heavy object on top (tins) to get all the water out, making the Tofu ready to take on some flavour. I threw this sauce over the sliced Tofu.

I left this overnight and then popped it in the oven, I realised baked Tofu wasn’t what I wanted so I then popped the slices in a frying pan without oil to make them crispy.

From this first experiment I learnt two things; not use chopped onion because they burn a bit when you fry it (so maybe slice them bigger and remove till the end), as does the ginger, but the ginger is so essential! I also learn to slice the tofu thinner, it already tasted amazing and certainly not bland by any means but I wanted more of the surface to taste of that yummy sauce.



Cauliflower Cheese, Green Beans, Cabbage and Marinated Tofu dinner!!



My Second Marinated tofu experiment was a non-overnight marinade. I fried the Tofu in a pan, then topped with marinade for half an hour then re cooked this, the sauce is so tasty so making a lot mean you can serve it on the side. I preferred the texture of this tofu, it was very crispy and full of flavour, hard to resist nibbling on the left over pieces.

I think I will try some variations still, both with the marinade ingredients and with how I prepare the Tofu. But I’m so happy to have this Tofu at home and it is better than any I can eat out near me!

It’s perfect in a main meal like stir fry of with mash, in a sandwich, or next summer on the BBQ! I would love to make little Tofu Skewers with this marinade.

 


Tofu Take 2