I have been perusing herbivoracious.com for the last few days after I discovered Michael Natkin's ridiculously delicious and simple way to prepare pan fried tofu. How I never looked at his site before is beyond me. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Everything looks amazing! And though it's not a vegan site, you know it's easy to convert almost any non-vegan recipe to a vegan one. Luckily, both the recipes I used to make this dish were, so all I had to do was shop and cook! I have to say, both Jeff and I were blown away with this dish. So, so, so, so, so, so, so good! The recipe I worked from was Tofu and Kimchi for One which I converted to two (which could have easily fed three), then I added plain ramen noodles. You could also use rice or quinoa as your base. Or you could just eat the tofu and kimchi. Any way you slice it, it's effin' delicious! I know you'll like this one too!
First, the Really Freaking Delicious Tofu recipe which I followed precisely. You should too. Trust. (http://herbivoracious.com/2012/05/how-to-make-tofu-really-freaking-delicious-tofu-101.html)
Ingredients:
A block of really good, non-gmo, super firm tofu. If you have access to fresh tofu, get that. I used packaged Wildwood extra firm tofu that I kept in the freezer and defrosted before using (makes it even firmer).Clean dish towels
Salt
Water
Peanut oil
Open and drain the tofu. Cut your tofu to desired size. For this dish, I cut 1/2" cubes.
Bring some well salted water to a boil and pour it over the tofu. Let stand for 15 minutes. This step ensure the tofu is really crispy. Why? Don't know, it just works.
Drain and DRY your tofu. I mean, really dry it. Place it on a clean, dry dish towel or two and cover with another. Press until you think you can't press anymore then press again. I went through four dish towels.
Now for frying. If you have a big cast iron skillet, use that. Pre-heat over high heat. Add about 2 TBSP peanut oil (or another neutral, high smoke point oil). Pat tofu dry again and place in the pan. Don't crowd the tofu! If it's too close together it will steam, not fry. Toss cubes around every minute or so to try to get all six sides. When they're a nice golden color, remove from heat and set aside.
Next: The Kimchee and Ramen bit (Adapted from: http://herbivoracious.com/2010/06/tofu-and-kimchi-dinner-for-one-recipe.html) Be careful when buying kimchi. Most of it has fish sauce in it. You should be able to find vegan versions at your local Whole Foods. I found it at Rainbow (of course).
Ingredients:
2-3 TBSP minced red onion
2 Tsp grated fresh ginger (Use a Microplane grater if you've got one.)
Toasted sesame oil
4 Green onions, thinly sliced
Toasted sesame seeds
1/2 C vegan kimchi (I used Sinto Gourmet spicy red Korean 'Mu' Radish which was AH-MAZING and local for me www.sintogormet.com. Sooooo stinky. Mmmmm!)
1-2 Tsp Sriracha (Rooster Sauce)
2 pkgs Ramen noodles boiled in lightly salted water (I used Sapporo Ichiban from Safeway. Those things you used to eat in college, minus the package of straight MSG.)
Toast the sesame seeds on med-high heat in a dry pan until they are golden colored. Prep all your veggies and boil your ramen.
Once the noodles are done, split between two or three plates, add a generous mound of tofu, drizzle a bit of sesame oil on top and garnish heavily with green and red onions and sesame seeds. Add a big pile of kimchi. hot sauce to taste. Top it off with a dollop of fresh ginger.
That's it! Now you can dig in! I hope you like this as much as I did. In fact, I may make it again tonight even though we just had it two nights ago. The tofu is out of this world and combined with stinky kimchi, it will send you into another dimension, I swear. Enjoy!
Bring some well salted water to a boil and pour it over the tofu. Let stand for 15 minutes. This step ensure the tofu is really crispy. Why? Don't know, it just works.
Drain and DRY your tofu. I mean, really dry it. Place it on a clean, dry dish towel or two and cover with another. Press until you think you can't press anymore then press again. I went through four dish towels.
Now for frying. If you have a big cast iron skillet, use that. Pre-heat over high heat. Add about 2 TBSP peanut oil (or another neutral, high smoke point oil). Pat tofu dry again and place in the pan. Don't crowd the tofu! If it's too close together it will steam, not fry. Toss cubes around every minute or so to try to get all six sides. When they're a nice golden color, remove from heat and set aside.
Ingredients:
2-3 TBSP minced red onion
2 Tsp grated fresh ginger (Use a Microplane grater if you've got one.)
Toasted sesame oil
4 Green onions, thinly sliced
Toasted sesame seeds
1/2 C vegan kimchi (I used Sinto Gourmet spicy red Korean 'Mu' Radish which was AH-MAZING and local for me www.sintogormet.com. Sooooo stinky. Mmmmm!)
1-2 Tsp Sriracha (Rooster Sauce)
2 pkgs Ramen noodles boiled in lightly salted water (I used Sapporo Ichiban from Safeway. Those things you used to eat in college, minus the package of straight MSG.)
Toast the sesame seeds on med-high heat in a dry pan until they are golden colored. Prep all your veggies and boil your ramen.
Once the noodles are done, split between two or three plates, add a generous mound of tofu, drizzle a bit of sesame oil on top and garnish heavily with green and red onions and sesame seeds. Add a big pile of kimchi. hot sauce to taste. Top it off with a dollop of fresh ginger.
That's it! Now you can dig in! I hope you like this as much as I did. In fact, I may make it again tonight even though we just had it two nights ago. The tofu is out of this world and combined with stinky kimchi, it will send you into another dimension, I swear. Enjoy!
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