Tofu Steaks

My relationship with tofu is fickle at best. I've compared the taste to styrofoam and twigs. I've suggested that I'd rather eat paper or a dirty shoe. And I've dismissed it's appearance with a "gross" on pretty much any restaurant menu.

Here's the problem. The Mister and the Bebe heart the tofu. And why shouldn't they? I mean, I loath it. So it's only natural that they both love it. I have had it prepared properly. La Na Thai (French Thai Restaurant) in Media, PA on State Street makes an amazing tofu. They must inject it with delicious or marinate it in succulent for days, because it's flavor is nothing short of fantastic.

Tofu is high in protein, iron, calcium, magnesium and low in calories. I'm losing this fight, so rather than hate on the tofu I've decided to dominate it.

Here was my train of thought...what do I love? Meat and potatoes. Why not prepare the tofu like the meat? Over the past few months, the Mister has taken it upon himself to make me various cuts of meat. I've become familiar with different sauces and marinades.

TOFU STEAK

Ingredients

1 block of tofu (firm or extra firm)

1/2 cup Worchestire sauce

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

1 teaspoon chili powder

McCormick steak seasoning

1/2 large onion chopped

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

Marinade: combine Worchestire sauce, spicy brown mustard, chili powder.

Cut the tofu block into six blocks. Make sure they are thick and even, otherwise they are going to fall apart in the frying pan. Place the tofu in a deep baking pan and cover with the marinade, make sure everything coated and covered. The longer you marinate the tofu, the better it will taste. I recommend a minimum of 3-4 hours so it can really absorb the flavor.

Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil, add the mushrooms. Sprinkle the tofu with the steak seasoning. Place the tofu steaks in the pan with all the marinade (ta-da, there's the sauce!). You can fry 2-3 steaks at a time depending on the size of the pan. Make sure you put the mushroom/onion mixture on top of the tofu while you fry them so the sauce doesn't over cook. I fried them on medium for probably 15-20 minutes until the outside was browned.

Serve with the sauce on top.

And not to toot my own horn...but "toot-toot!" The Mister's eyes just about popped out of his head when I handed him the plate with the tofu and the mushroom/onion sauce on top. The presentation was quite impressive. I even made a side of mashed potatoes (straight out of the box, thank you very much) mixed with some wasabi sauce.

I really think these would be AWESOME on the grill. You'd have to make the sauce separately then grill the tofu, but that might be the way to go next time.

chindian noodles

If you've never tried Indian-Chinese food, you are missing out on the most fantastic fusion fare. My initial experiences with this genre of Indian food was in Goa, India (there is a large Tibetan and Chinese population in Goa). Chili Chicken and Gobi Manchurian are some of the tastiest dishes I've ever consumed. The marriage of Indian food to Chinese spices is magical.

Inexplicably, I rarely see Indian-Chinese offered on either Indian or Chinese menus in America. 

My creation initially started out as an attempt at Chili Chicken, however it rapidly turned into more of a Chinese-Indian noodle dish which, of course, naturally evolved into being named Chindian Noodles. You can make this dish with chicken, seitan or tofu. It comes out saucier with chicken and tofu; I think the seitan actually absorbs some of the sauce. (Personally, I think it tastes better with the seitan.) Seitan emits its own salt, so taste the sauce prior to adding additional salt.

Chindian Noodles 

Marinade

2 1/2 tablespoons crushed ginger

2 1/2 tablespoons crushed garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon worchestire sauce

Noodles

1/2 package of rice sticks (I use Trader Joe's)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 cup mushrooms

1 cup veggie broth

salt to taste

Marinate chicken, seitan or tofu in marinade for atleast two hours. Chop and fry onions. Add chicken/seitan/tofu, chopped peppers, mushrooms and veggie broth. Cook on medium heat for 15-minutes.

Cook rice sticks (6-8 minutes). Drain and mix with meat/veggies.

The preparation and cook time for this meal is quick and painless. The Mister and I can eat this over two days for dinner. I'd like to experiment a little more and come up with some additional Chindian dishes. Gobi Manchurian (cauliflower) may be my next project, I'd like to try a roasted, healthier oven-version.