tofu

So, we’ve been experimenting with tofu a lot recently. Following the success of our Mediterranean tofu scramble I wanted to try something completely different and see the other side of this wondrous soy product. In fact, I wanted to see the dark side. The time had come for…crispy fried tofu! A lot of peoples misconception of tofu is that it is always pale, bland, mushy and flaccid. Which it is. But, it can really reach quite alarming levels of deliciousness with a little TLC and a very hot pan.

I pressed the tofu for about half an hour, sliced it into square slabs and dipped each slab into seasoned flour – the key to getting a super crispy edge.

I then carefully added them to a hot pan of oil and left them for about 10 minutes, turning every so often to momentarily relieve each side of it’s immersion in the oil.

After a little while they started to look like this! Complete transformation and in my opinion proof that tofu can look appetising!

I added barbecue sauce (combination of leftover jarred BBQ sauce, ketchup, honey and soy sauce) to the tofu and left it to hang out in the pan for a little bit while we plated up our extremely classy, circa-1981 pub grub accompaniments – fries, onion rings and a corn on the cob. Niiiiiice.

The result was really, really good. The texture of the tofu had changed completely; crisp, crunchy edges with caramelised BBQ sauce and a soft, pillowy centre. Amazing! Immediately promoted to the top of the Regular Dinners list, clever tofu!

I wanted to make something nice for dinner based around one key ingredient – tofu. We have cooked with tofu a few times but I’m keen to start using it a bit more as I’m getting sick of all the Quorn products; there’s so much that can be done with tofu that it’s a lot more versatile. Plus, it’s delicious! I found a delicious sounding recipe on Post Punk Kitchen (Puttanesca Tofu Scramble) that called for very few ingredients so I decided it would be the perfect easy Thursday night dinner. We already had peppers, tomatos and onions so I just nipped to Sainsburys and grabbed tofu, olives and a bit of an impulse buy of feta cheese.

We’ve never pressed our tofu before cooking with it and I decided this was the night to try! It was really easy to do; we opened and drained the tofu (we used Cauldron Firm) and put it on a dinner plate on top of a few sheets of kitchen towel. We then topped it with another plate and a load of heavy cooking books. When we returned 20 minutes later a good amount of liquid had been squeezed out and the tofu had a firmer, spongier appearance. Marvellous!

Drinks in hand (it had been a long day…) we then started chopping the ingredients.

I chopped one red onion, one red pepper, olives and a handful of plum tomatoes. We then sautéed the onion first with some chopped garlic before adding the chopped tofu. After the tofu had started to brown and crisp up a bit on the edges we added the peppers, tomatoes and seasoning (basil, oregano, salt, pepper.)

Next time we make this I think we’ll chop the tofu again into smaller chunks so that they cook quicker (slackers!)

When the tomatoes and peppers were at a level of softness that satisfied me, we added the sliced olives and finally the feta. I was umming and ahhing about whether to add the feta into the pan or just on top at the end but I’m so glad we added it in! Some of the smaller chunks melted fully, binding all the ingredients into a kind of salty, cheesey blanket, while the bigger pieces remained valiantly whole, delicious when unexpectedly muscling in on the odd forkful.

We served the ‘scramble’ with some sun-dried tomato couscous which really was the perfect accompaniment. This was a really delicious, easy dinner that came together in no time, we’ll definitely be making it again!

Polka Dot Kitchen

Crispy BBQ Tofu

Mediterranean Tofu Scramble