Anyhoo, after seeing this amazing sounding recipe it was on my mind grapes for about a month. So yesterday on my day off I decided to try out these marinated tofu sandwiches.
They are amazing! The tofu is so firm and flavorful. Both sweet, and spicy. It was such a nice treat from strictly veggie filled sandwiches. (Since I've never been a big fan of soy lunch meats.)
(And Is it just me or does that tofu kind of look like chicken? Oddly enough the texture also reminded me of chicken...)
The tofu is marinated in a combination of soy sauce, garlic, and spices. Then it gets coated in fresh black pepper, fried up, and then coated in sesame seeds. It is simply nothing short of a slice of tofu heaven. Even my tofobic sister enjoyed them!
Tomorrow I think I will try out the left over pieces in a spinach salad. Mmm.
The recipe is as follows:
(I didn't stick to the original since there were a few things I was missing-fresh ginger for one. But I think it still turned out pretty damn good.)
Pepper and Sesame-crusted Tofu Sandwiches
(From VeganCooking?)
Drain and press out any extra water from a block of firm or extra firm tofu.* Thinly slice the entire block and marinate for an hour or longer with the following marinade:
3/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 tsp rougly chopped fresh ginger, or if you don't have any, ground ginger will work just fine.
3-4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp green curry paste
2 tsp sesame oil
freshly ground pepper
sesame seeds
Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large container and add tofu slices. Keep in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
Once the tofu has marinated, heat a pan to medium high with a bit of oil in it. (I used a combination of 1 tsp sesame oil and some veg. oil.) While the pan is heating grind fresh black pepper onto a plate. Remove the tofu from the marinade, blot with a paper towel and cover both sides with the pepper. Do this with all the slices, then fry them in the pan-about 1-2 mins or until they are crispy and brown. In the meantime, cover a new plate with sesame seeds. Once the tofu slices are finished marinating, coat them with the sesame seeds.
To serve these, I toasted 2 slices of whole grain flax bread. On one slice I put some light miracle whip and some cilantro. (All I had was the stuff in the tube, but keep in mind that fresh is obviously preferable!) And on the other slice I slathered some sweet red pepper salsa. I also added some thick slices of cucumbers and some crispy iceberg lettuce. Other good toppings would be bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc.
*In order to press out all the water from the tofu (to gain a firmer texture and stronger taste) my preffered method is as follows:
Place your block of tofu on a plate in between two paper towels. On top of the paper towel, place a large skillet. On top of the skillet, stick a dictionary or any heavy object. Leave it for about an hour or so and most of the water will have drained.
