Mera Tofu h Teriyaki!

This is something that I have been wanting to try for so long now but was either always scared to try it or was short of some ingredient that I would need. But this time, and not by chance, I made sure I have everything that I would need to pull this off, including lots of courage. It wasn’t easy! Midway I had to call up one of my friends who was out to buy a wifi-router for our place to get me some sesame seeds while it was pouring down heavily. Not sure how it would have turned out if I did not have them, but I am pretty sure having them helped me get some crunchiness, rather, a bite to the dish!

This dish might sound a little complicated on the first go, but when you really understand how to do it, it is not at all difficult. It does have an interesting mix of ingredients that complement each other so well that it left my experimental-self amazed!

Let’s start with the start. WHAT IS IT?
“Crispy tofu glazed in a home-made sweet and spicy pan-Asian sauce served with a side of broccoli and cherry tomatoes with lots of fibrous lettuce!”

Sounds fancy? xD

Let’s cut to the chase and see how you can go about experimenting with some Asian flavors in your kitchen!

First off, ingredients!

1. Courage. Lots of it! You need to be prepared to mix flavors that you have never had a chance to work with. Be adventurous. Mix things that are not very intuitive on the first sight. You would be surprised (not always pleasantly) how different flavors complement each other.
2. Tofu. 300–400gms. I tried working with medium-firm tofu and things turned out to be good. You could try a harder or a softer one and I would love to hear how things shape out.
   For those who do not know what tofu is lemme fill you in. It is very similar to paneer but made with soy milk instead of our regular milk. It is a very popular meat alternate amongst vegans (not vegetarians — we have paneer 😛)
   And for the people who have had the pleasure of trying it but did not like the taste and texture of it, I would highly recommend you to try out this dish. When mixed with the right flavors tofu is a delicacy and I can promise that you are gonna love it.
   In case you do not trust me (I can not blame you for that), you can go ahead with using paneer as well, everything should turn out to be fine (I suppose).
3. Soy Sauce. Roughly half a cup. This would be used as the base for our sauce. Soy sauce is a very strong flavor to work with but it should not scare you away.
4. Olive oil. 1 tablespoon should be enough for the sauce and another tablespoon and a half for pan frying tofu and veggies. I have read that sesame oil is usually used while working with Asian flavors but I only had olive oil with me so I kind of went ahead with that. It would not really matter when you are cooking this at home, so don’t really worry about which oil to use.
5. Honey. 1 tablespoon. Now, this would really depend on how sweet the honey you are using it. I would recommend you to always taste the sauce before putting it on the flame to make sure everything is how you want it to be. You can also use brown sugar which is again something that is usually used in Asian dishes.
6. White Wine Vinegar. Or any vinegar per say. 2 tablespoons of it. This helps you get in the acidity in the sauce which complements the flavor of soy sauce really really well.

7. Sriracha sauce. Gives a spicy kick to the sauce. You will need to add in 2 nice tablespoons full of it.

8. Ginger. One small bulb maybe.

9. Garlic. A few cloves, maybe 5–6. I like my food with a lot of garlic. You can always reduce the amount if you are not very fond of its strong flavor.

10. Cornflour. Half a tablespoon. This actually was supposed to be cornstarch or potato starch, but since I did not have that, I went with an alternate. Basically, the aim is to use this in our sauce and make it thicker. Any of them should work fine.

11. Water. 2 tablespoons

12. Tabasco. An optional ingredient if you like your food extra spicy. Add it a few drops of it to the sauce.

13. Sesame seeds. 2 tablespoons again. This thing would help make the glaze crunchy and make the dish aesthetically pleasing.

14. Broccoli. A small broccoli head should be enough to feed 3 people.

15. Cherry tomatoes. 12–14 pieces of small cherry tomatoes. Makes the side salad tangy

16. Lettuce. Fiber, fiber, fiber! You need fiber in your food and that is what lettuce does exactly. I am not gonna go into the health benefits of having it as a side in this post. Take a nice handful or two of chopped lettuce. Lettuce also adds in sort of a crunchiness to the salad which I personally love.

17. Spring onions. They go so well with Asian flavors. I have never worked with them but they have a very nice taste and can be used as a very good garnish to make your food stand out. Take 2 bulbs and their stems along with it

18. Coriander leaves. Never underestimate the power of coriander. I feel it adds in so much freshness to your dish and also make up for a beautiful garnish.

19. Chill flakes. A nice teaspoon of it. Adds in spice to the salad.

20. Mixed herbs. This is one of my favorite ingredients as it adds in so much aroma and flavor to anything you add it to. A nice teaspoon of this as well.

21. Salt and pepper. No food is complete without both of these.

22. Garlic powder. Specifically for your side salad because as I said, I love the flavor of garlic.

Be adventurous. Mix things that are not very intuitive on the first sight. You would be surprised (not always pleasantly) how different flavors complement each other.

That was a lot of ingredients. And having everything in the kitchen all at once is sometimes difficult. Try to look out for alternates to any missing ingredient. There is no hard and fast rule to use a specific ingredient. Don’t be afraid to substitute traditional unavailable things with the things that are readily available. In the end, cooking is all about exploring what has not been! What’s fun in blindly following a recipe without adding in a little of “your” touch to it.

In the end, cooking is all about exploring what has not been! What’s fun in blindly following a recipe without adding in a little of “your” touch to it.

Enough of the ingredients and I wish I could jump to the preparation and cooking part of it already but before that, we need to cover up some of the kitchen equipment you would need. This list is again of recommended nice to have stuff. Always try to find alternatives to things that you do not have.

1. Non-stick pan. I know I am obsessed with this thing and use it every time. Primarily because this ensures that my food would not need a lot of oil (hence less fat) to cook and would not even stick on the pan. Having 2 pans would be good to have. You would need a small one to toast the sesame seeds.
2. Microwave safe bowl. You would need this to steam broccoli.
3. Microwave. You might not have a microwave at your place. I would recommend getting one if you are looking to cook regularly. There is so much you can do with a microwave oven so easily.
   For those who do not have a microwave, I would tell you a workaround to it using your regular stove.
4. Chopping board. Duh! Where there are veggies, there is a chopping board.
5. Your knife. Again, a primary requirement. You do not need to have a fancy knife just the regular ones are always fine.
6. Bowls. Small and large ones. To keep your prepared veggies and mix your sauce in before you put it on flame
7. Plates. To serve your food in!
8. Wooden spatula. Because you do not want to scratch your non-stick pan.
9. Spoons. For measuring things. I know these are some readily available things but I want to be as exhaustive as possible to make sure I do not miss anything, even if it is something that is obvious!
10. Kitchen paper towels. You would need them to dry out tofu. You can use regular tissue papers as well. Kitchen paper towels are thicker and hence preferred because they absorb well.
11. Grater. You would need this to grate in the ginger and garlic for the sauce.

Done and dusted with collecting items. Let's jump to some preparations. I know collecting things might have taken a little longer than expected since there are so many ingredients to this dish.

1. Start with tofu. Our aim is to have crispy tofu when we pan sear it. To make your tofu extra crispy, you need to get all the water out of it. This is the trick that most high-end restaurants use and now you can too in your own kitchen! 😉
   Take the entire block of tofu and generously sprinkle some salt on it. Rub it evenly on all sides and wrap up the tofu in the kitchen towel. Now press it with something heavy. Anything heavy. Even your heavy books on top of it would work (if you have ’em 😛). Keep the tofu pressed which helps drain out all the excess water from it while you prepare the rest of the things. Ideally, you should keep it to dry for 30 minutes or so if you have time.
2. Now take your broccoli and get all the bulbs off the stem. Thoroughly wash them and put them in a microwave safe bowl.
3. Cut all your cherry tomatoes in half.
4. Chop the lettuce into bitesize pieces for the salad.

Chopped spring onions and cheery tomatoes

5. Take the spring onions and chop it into small pieces and keep them on a side.

6. Now you have to “chiffonade” your coriander leaves. Don't be scared of this word. It means to finely chop your herby leaves into ribbons so that they look good when you use them as a garnish. Start by stacking up some washed and dried coriander leaves on top of each other. Rollup the leaves into a cylinder and then start copping from one end of the cylinder to the other. This turns the coriander into beautiful ribbons. Once you are done with this, keep it on a side.

7. Toast your sesame seeds in a dry non-stick pan. Keep them on the flame till they turn brown. Once done save them on a side.

8. It's time to mix up the ingredients for your sauce. Whisk together soy sauce, honey, olive oil, white wine vinegar, sriracha sauce, grated ginger, grated garlic, cornflour, water and Tabasco sauce. Add in your toasted sesame seeds to it saving a little for garnish later on.

Whisked mixture for the sauce

9. Once you are done with everything, unwrap the tofu and cut it into roughly 1-inch pieces.

PRO TIP: You should always have your chopping board stabilized on your kitchen counter. Helps you leave the kitchen with the same number of fingers as you entered it with. To do this, place a damp kitchen towel or a kitchen cloth under it which prevents the board from moving and hence makes your life easier.

Done with the preparations. It's time to put everything together.

1. First off, let's steam our broccoli. Put it in the microwave safe bowl, add a few drops of water to it, cover it with a microwave safe lid and put it in the microwave for about 4 minutes. Our aim is to cook it enough that a fork can easily pass through it.
   In case you do not have a microwave, you can simply boil the broccoli until it becomes soft but not very mushy. I am not very sure about the time, but it should not take very long.
2. While this happens, take your non-stick pan and get it nice and hot over the stove. Add in a tablespoon of olive oil to it and toss in the tofu cubes in the pan. Keep tossing them around till all sides become light golden brown and tofu gets crispy. Once done empty the pan and keep the tofu on a kitchen towel to get the excess oil off it.

Pan fry the tofu till it is brown and in some cases black 😛

3. Your broccoli would be done by now. Check by inserting a fork in it and put in back in the microwave for a couple of more minutes if it is still not done.

4. Once done, take the same pan, get it nice and hot again and add in a teaspoon of olive oil to it. Add in the cherry tomatoes and let them cook for a minute or two. Then add in the broccoli in the pan. Some salt, chili flakes and mixed herbs and a pinch of black pepper. Toss it well in the pan. Add in some garlic powder after a couple of minutes and toss it again. Once everything is mixed up save it in a bowl on the side.

Stir fried veggies for the side

5. Let's work on preparing the sauce now. Add in the whisked mixture to the pan and let it cook on low heat. You will see bubbles popping up in it after a while and given enough time the sauce will start to thicken up. This can take up to 15 minutes so wait patiently. Keep stirring every now and then. You want the sauce to be nice and thick so that it coats up the tofu well.

Heat up the sauce till it goes from the consistency on the left to the consistency on the right

6. Once you are satisfied with the consistency, add in the crispy tofu to it and mix ’em up well to make sure you coat every piece of tofu.

Mix in the tofu well so that all the pieces are coated nicely

And we are done!

It's time to serve it!
In a plate, nicely arrange your glazed tofu pieces, complement it with your broccoli and tomato salad and some lettuce. You can serve the leftover sauce as a dip with your dish. You can even use your leftover sauce for future, to coat anything literally, some veggies, paneer and you would have another dish ready easily.
Top you tofu pieces with some spring onions and your salad with fresh coriander. Also, sprinkle in some toasted sesame seeds on your entire dish which makes up for a nice garnish.

It would look something like this, rather even better!

Ain’t it beautiful :’)

So stop waiting, go collect all the ingredients and enjoy this pan-Asian delicacy with your friends.

#StopLookinStartCookin!

I know this might have been a little longer for a recipe blog. It is primarily because my aim here is to share with you how to prepare the dish, why use certain flavours and how you can workaround if you do not have any ingredient or equipment at your disposal.

Let me know if you get to try this dish and how it turns out. My friends seemed to have loved it when I made it the last time.

Also I would love to hear what you guys think of this blog and how I can improve. I have been constantly told to add in more pictures and I tried to get enough pictures this time to make sure that I do not disappoint you guys.

Liked it? Don’t forget to show your appreciation. Kill that claps button on the bottom. Would mean a lot! :)

Until next time!
Cheers!
- Rachit

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