Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Sexy Tofu Dish for Clair

My lovely friend Clair wanted this recipe. I originally got it off of worldmacro.org but I can't locate it quickly enough, so I am going to recreate it. (On Yogen's site, it is called Tofu Gado, but I like sexy tofu better!)

1 package firm tofu
1 to 2 carrots
1 to 2 onions
2 T tahini or peanut butter
1 to 2 T miso (barley is nice)
1 to 2 T lemon juice
water (or juice from cooking vegetables)
pinch of sea salt

1. Cut the onions into crescents and the carrots into rounds or half moons.
2. Saute the onions until they smell sweet, and then add carrots on top with a pinch of sea salt. Pour about 1/2 cup water into the pan and cover. Cook until vegetables smell very sweet.
3. Meanwhile, drain the water off the tofu and press between cutting boards to squeeze out excess water (mizu kiri in Japanese).
4. Make the sauce. Put the rest of the ingredients into a suribachi and mix to make a nice sauce.
5. When the vegetables are finished cooking, place them into an oven pan. Cover with tofu slices and top with sauce.
6. Bake at 180 C for about 20 minutes.
7. Serve and enjoy your sexy tofu dish.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I can't really tell when the vegetables "smell sweet"....do you have an approximate time frame for cooking these? I don't know that they'd ever smell sweet to me.
:^)
Thanks!
Allie

Leslie said...

Allie,
Macro cooking is a very sensory experience. I would suggest smelling the carrots when you put them into the pan, and then keep smelling them occasionally as you saute them. The smell definitely changes. An approximate time depends on your cookware, the amount of flame you use, and the day but I am guessing around 10 minutes. A cooking teacher can help you understand the smells and tastes, and practice over time helps fine tune your nose and tastebuds too.

Leslie