Wednesday, May 28, 2014

broiled miso tofu with mushrooms and carrots

One of the most common complaints I hear is about cooking tofu, and it makes sense. It's pretty much flavorless on its own, and it can go from nice squares to a scrambled mess in almost an instant.

But broiling fixes these things. You can marinate it ahead of time, but even ten minutes is okay if you toss it briefly in a flavorful sauce and drizzle the remainders on top of it. You at most move the tofu minimally, flipping it, or you can simply not touch it at all, leaving it in its original shape rather than a gelatinous puddle.

It's fast. It's easy. And, best of all, it's crazy delicious.

Seriously.


~*~

Serves 2-4
Time: ~30 minutes

1 block firm tofu
1/8 cup soy sauce
splash canola oil

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 heaping spoons miso (~6 tbsp)
juice 1/2 lemon
~2 tbsp soy sauce

~2 tbsp water to thin sauce

2 large carrots, cut into even-sized pieces
2 1/2 cups of small button mushrooms, whole (about the size of gumballs, if possible)

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Adjust your oven rack so it is in the middle of the oven, and set the oven to broil.

Slice your block of tofu into evenly-sized cubes and lay it into a flat-ish container (tupperware or a pot would work well). In a small bowl, whisk together 1/8 cup of soy sauce and canola oil, then pour it over the tofu. Let it make friends with the tofu for at least ten minutes. If you marinate it overnight, just use the soy sauce, and pour canola oil over tofu when you are ready to cook it.

Tofu soaks.


Spritz a baking sheet with cooking oil. Once your tofu has soaked, pick it up and lay it onto the baking sheet, shaking off excess marinade.

Into the remaining excess marinade, grate ginger and garlic cloves. Add in miso, lemon juice, and additional soy sauce. Whisk the mixture to remove lumps and make it smooth. Add enough water to thin it out just a little bit, so it's more liquid than solid (it should go from the thickness of a thick smoothie to the thickness of a yogurt drink).

Secret ingredient.

Wash your veggies and, in two batches, toss them in the marinade.

Veggies taking a dip.


Using a slotted spoon, lift veggies out, shaking off excess marinade, and lay them in a single layer in between the tofu pieces, not covering any of the tofu.

All sauced.


Pour the rest of the marinade over the tofu and veggies, then pop it in the oven.

Close-up.


Check every 5 minutes or so--it should take about 20 minutes. It's done when you can stick a fork into one of the carrots easily and the miso on top of the tofu has turned a darker shade of brown, and the mushrooms are well-caramelized. If you check and your tofu is burning on top, you can flip the pieces.

All done!


When it's done, lay tofu and veggies over rice and garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro.


Moo circling like a shark. Too bad there were no leftovers.


2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! I love tofu AND miso so this is right up my alley.

    Just a small suggestion - I think larger photos would be much more helpful! I realize I can click on the photos to enlarge, but I'd love to be able to just scroll through.

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    Replies
    1. It's a soy party!

      That is a great suggestion; I have been playing with Blogger layouts so I'll see if there's a way to change it. I think I may be also changing platforms at some point, so I will keep that in mind!

      Thanks for the comment!

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