[clinton/website/site/unknownlamer.org.git] / Basic Sauteed Tofu.muse

Just a basic recipe for moderately spicy sauteed tofu, quick and easy
and not too unhealthy. Goes well with steamed broccoli and rice.

I don't press the tofu as I find when it does it absorbs too much of
the marinade and the inside of the cubes just become vaguely vinegary.

* Ingredients

 - 14oz (397g) Firm Tofu
 - Oil for sauteeing. Recommend a few tbsp of plain sesame oil with a
   small amount of toasted sesame oil added near the end.

** Marinade

 - 1/2 cup water
 - 2.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
 - 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
 - 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
   - Try to find some with no added sugar (hard
     nowadays!). [[http://www.alwadi-alakhdar.com/products/molasses/natural-pomegranate-molasses/][Al Wadi pomegranate molasses]] is available on Amazon
     (Bezos wins this round...) if your local market doesn't have any
     pure pomegranate molasses.
 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
 - 1/2 tbsp onion powder
 - 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
 - 1 small serrano or habanero pepper, minced
 - 2 tsp corn starch

** Sauteed Vegetables

Can really be anything, sautee separately for a few minutes. I like:

 - 1 Sweet bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
 - 1 bunch green onions
 - Baby Corn
 - Snap peas
 - 1/2 medium white onion (cut into 1/2 inch thick slices parallel
   with rings, then cut each slice in half)
 - 1 tbsp chili paste

** Rice

 - 1 cup rice
 - 2 whole cloves garlic
 - 1/4 tsp tumeric
 - 1 tsp paprika
 - 1 tsp olive oil

Cook rice on side, using whatever rice you like. Remove garlic before
serving.

* Directions

 1. Drain tofu and cut tofu into cubes of desired size (1/2 inch suggested)
 1. Combine marinade ingredients except for corn starch and freshly minced garlic
 1. Cover tofu with marinade, marinate for ~30 minutes, refrigerated
 1. Strain tofu, retain marinade!
 1. Prepare cornstarch by dissolving in a few tbsp of water
 1. Mix retained marinade, cornstarch, and minced garlic well
 1. Preheat pan over medium-high heat
 1. Add oil and sautee tofu for ~12 minutes, tossing every three or
    four minutes 
 1. Lower heat to medium, add sauce, and simmer until sauce
    thickens (~8 minutes).

* TODO

bird's eye peppers instead of serrano/habanero

pressing tofu seems to have made it worse; outside of tofu isn't as
"chewy" and inside just tasted like marinade and was a bit chewier
than I wanted. Skip.

In the batch where the tofu was pressed (and I first increased the
cornstarch), the sauce thickened in under four minutes and scorched a
bit from the heat. Sauce did not thicken quickly in next batch (did
not press tofu) -- it looks like pressing the tofu caused the tofu to
absorb more of the marinade so there was less sauce.
Commit	Line	Data
09816bb9	1	Just a basic recipe for moderately spicy sauteed tofu, quick and easy
7b7496f6	2	and not too unhealthy. Goes well with steamed broccoli and rice.
	3
	4	I don't press the tofu as I find when it does it absorbs too much of
	5	the marinade and the inside of the cubes just become vaguely vinegary.
09816bb9	6
	7	* Ingredients
	8
	9	- 14oz (397g) Firm Tofu
7b7496f6	10	- Oil for sauteeing. Recommend a few tbsp of plain sesame oil with a
7b7496f6	11	small amount of toasted sesame oil added near the end.
09816bb9	12
	13	** Marinade
	14
7b7496f6	15	- 1/2 cup water
7b7496f6	16	- 2.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
09816bb9	17	- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
7b7496f6	18	- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
	19	- Try to find some with no added sugar (hard
	20	nowadays!). [[http://www.alwadi-alakhdar.com/products/molasses/natural-pomegranate-molasses/][Al Wadi pomegranate molasses]] is available on Amazon
	21	(Bezos wins this round...) if your local market doesn't have any
	22	pure pomegranate molasses.
	23	- 4 cloves garlic, minced
	24	- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
	25	- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
09816bb9	26	- 1 small serrano or habanero pepper, minced
7b7496f6	27	- 2 tsp corn starch
	28
	29	** Sauteed Vegetables
	30
	31	Can really be anything, sautee separately for a few minutes. I like:
	32
	33	- 1 Sweet bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
	34	- 1 bunch green onions
	35	- Baby Corn
	36	- Snap peas
	37	- 1/2 medium white onion (cut into 1/2 inch thick slices parallel
	38	with rings, then cut each slice in half)
	39	- 1 tbsp chili paste
	40
	41	** Rice
	42
	43	- 1 cup rice
	44	- 2 whole cloves garlic
	45	- 1/4 tsp tumeric
	46	- 1 tsp paprika
	47	- 1 tsp olive oil
	48
	49	Cook rice on side, using whatever rice you like. Remove garlic before
	50	serving.
09816bb9	51
	52	* Directions
	53
7b7496f6	54	1. Drain tofu and cut tofu into cubes of desired size (1/2 inch suggested)
7b7496f6	55	1. Combine marinade ingredients except for corn starch and freshly minced garlic
09816bb9	56	1. Cover tofu with marinade, marinate for ~30 minutes, refrigerated
09816bb9	57	1. Strain tofu, retain marinade!
7b7496f6	58	1. Prepare cornstarch by dissolving in a few tbsp of water
	59	1. Mix retained marinade, cornstarch, and minced garlic well
	60	1. Preheat pan over medium-high heat
	61	1. Add oil and sautee tofu for ~12 minutes, tossing every three or
	62	four minutes
	63	1. Lower heat to medium, add sauce, and simmer until sauce
	64	thickens (~8 minutes).
09816bb9	65
	66	* TODO
	67
7b7496f6	68	bird's eye peppers instead of serrano/habanero
09816bb9	69
7b7496f6	70	pressing tofu seems to have made it worse; outside of tofu isn't as
	71	"chewy" and inside just tasted like marinade and was a bit chewier
	72	than I wanted. Skip.
09816bb9	73
7b7496f6	74	In the batch where the tofu was pressed (and I first increased the
	75	cornstarch), the sauce thickened in under four minutes and scorched a
	76	bit from the heat. Sauce did not thicken quickly in next batch (did
	77	not press tofu) -- it looks like pressing the tofu caused the tofu to
	78	absorb more of the marinade so there was less sauce.