Panko Crusted Tofu Dinner - Repost from old DU2
Last edited Thu Dec 6, 2012, 04:11 PM - Edit history (1)
Panko crusted Tofu with a spicy sweet sauce.
Served with curried couscous, spaghetti'ed zucchini, spaghetti'ed squash and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms.
Let me start by saying that I did not measure most of the ingredients; I mainly eye-balled everything, but I'll do my best to give approximations.
Ingredients
-Container of Extra Firm Tofu
-Panko Bread crumbs
-Package of Dehydrated Shiitake mushrooms
-Couscous(1 Cup)
-Vegetable Stock(1 Cup)
-Soy Sauce
-Hoy Fong Chili Garlic Hot Sauce = http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/garlic.htm
-Honey (Corn Syrup if you wish to go Vegan)
-Dark Amber Maple Syrup
-Rice Vinegar
-Whole Zucchini
-Whole Squash
-Orange Juice
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Canola Oil(can be substituted with Sesame or Peanut Oil)
-Curry Powder
-Fresh White Onion
-Fresh Garlic
-Sesame Seeds
-Fresh Ginger
-Corn Starch(about 1 tablespoon dissolved into 2 tablespoons of warm water)
Mise en place
I start by preparing the tofu as it will need to marinade. So, first remove the tofu from its package and drain excess water. What I do next is to gently squeeze out the remaining water by doing the following:
Take a small plate and line it with 2 folded paper towels and place the tofu on top of the paper towels as shown:
I then take 2 more folded paper towels and place them on top of the tofu along with another plate placed on top. I then place a weight(about 2 pounds) on top of the upper plate as shown, in this instance our teapot doubled as the weight:
While the tofu is being pressed, rehydrate the mushrooms as per the simple instructions on the back of the package. The package I bought had me drop the contents of the package into 2 cups of hot tap water.
While the tofu is getting pressed and the mushrooms are re hydrating you can prepare the rest of your ingredients.
Finely dice 1/2 the white onion
Mince 4 cloves of the garlic
Grate about a Tablespoon of Fresh Ginger
Marinade for the Tofu
Put about 1/8 of an inch of Soy Sauce into an 8in glass baking dish(do not use a dish that will react with the soy sauce)
Add 1/2 of the garlic(about 2 minced cloves) to the sauce
Add the grated Ginger
Add about a tablespoon of sesame seeds as well
Take the tofu out of the home made press and cut it into 8 evenly sliced pieces. They should be about 2x2 inches square and about 3/4 of an inch thick. Place them into the marinade. After the one side has marinaded for about 15 minutes turn them over to get the other side.
Spaghetti one whole squash and one whole zucchini(I use a Julienne peeler to do this) and place them in a bowl. Don't worry about making sure that each strand of the squash and zucchini are separated. It's okay if it looks like the following:
Add about 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the bowl of squash and zucchini and toss with salt and pepper to taste. The oil and tossing process will separate all of the strands and you will end up with the following:
Much better eh? Place this to the side.
Sweet and Spicy Sauce
Add 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce, 3 Tablespoons Orange Juice and 3 Tablespoons Rice vinegar into a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of honey and 2 tablespoons of Maple Syrup and whisk until blended. Start adding small amounts of the Hoy Fong Chili Garlic Hot Sauce and whisk in. Taste it continue adding the hot sauce until you are happy with the heat level.
Transfer to a small sauce pan over low heat while stirring. Once it starts to simmer add the corn starch slurry and continue to stir until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Couscous
In a 3qt sauce pan over medium low heat add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the diced onion and remaining garlic and slowly sweat them. Once the garlic is fragrant and the onions are translucent add vegetable stock and a tablespoon of curry powder to the pan. Don't add the couscous quite yet... Allow the stock to come to a light simmer. This will allow some of the flavors to marry. Once it has simmered for about 5 minutes add the couscous and cover. It will cook rather quickly so you will need to continually check it. Once it is light and fluffy, turn off the heat, stir it to fluff it up, salt to taste and then put the cover back on.
Mushrooms
Strain the mushrooms from the water retaining both the mushrooms and the water. This water will have an amazing flavor. The Japanese call it Umami(pleasant savory taste). You will only need about 1/4 of a cup of the water, but I freeze the remaining water to be used in other dishes and sauces.
Add a 1/4 cup of the mushroom water to a saute pan over medium high heat, once at a boil add the mushrooms and toss until almost all of the water has evaporated. Add about 4 tablespoons of the sweet and spicy sauce and continue to toss for another minute.
Remove from heat and place aside.
Tofu
Put about 3 tablespoons of canola oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Make sure that you have about 1/16 of an inch of oil in the pan. While the oil is heating up, put about 1/4 of a cup of panko crumbs on a small plate.
Once the oil is hot and is just barely starting to smoke, take once piece of tofu at a time out of the marinade and gently press each side into the bread crumbs to coat. Place in the oil(drier side down first) and don't touch once in the oil. If you move them around the crust will come off before it has had time to set in.
Once you have all of the tofu starting to cook, take a separate medium pan over medium heat and add the zucchini/squash to the pan. Toss continually. At this point take the mushrooms and put in your oven under the broiler to caramelize. Keep an eye on the mushrooms so they do not burn. Everything will be going at once...
It will be at this point that your cat will start bugging you for his Fancy Feast.
Once the Tofu crumbs turn a nice dark golden brown, turn them over and cook the other side.
Once the tofu has finished cooking you can plate it however you want. What I did was place the couscous in the middle of the plate, surrounded by the other ingredients. I drizzled a small amount of the sweet and hot sauce over the tofu and put a small container on the plate in case more sauce was needed:
Happy cooking!
Sorry if some of the photos were blurry... It may have had something to do with the Tequila Sunrises...
= new reply since forum marked as read
Bookmarked.