Kung-Fu Tofu!

Tofu con una Glassa di Miele e Sansho, con Insalata Asiatica
Honey-Glazed Tofu with Sansho Pepper + Asian Slaw

It was time to finish off that hunk of tofu that had been staring me down every time I opened my fridge these past 2 days. Not being much of a tofu fan, I considered it a challenge to myself this week, to attempt to do something exciting and fun with it and maybe change my mind. And being as tofu is, in itself, relatively bland... I decided to give it a knock-out combination of flavors tonight and take care of it properly!

The main thing with tofu I think, when you are going to stir-fry it, is to let it drain and dry out before preparing it. If it is still waterlogged, it will not be able to absorb any new flavors- makes sense, no?

So I drained the tofu for about an hour and then marinated it for about another hour before cooking. I made a mix of sesame oil, soy sauce, grated ginger, lime juice, chili, and a little 5-spice powder. Whilst the tofu was soaking up all of these wonderful aroma's, I started working on the "slaw"...

This was a mix of shredded white cabbage, snow peas, carrot and shallot. I seasoned with sugar, salt and pepper, squeezed with lime juice, added a little sesame oil, fish sauce and a little light soy and allowed to marinate for 30 minutes.

I flash-fried the tofu in a hot non-stick pan without any added oil- there was enough in the marinade to keep it from sticking. Once it was lightly browned on all sides I added some dice red pepper and sautéed it for a further 2-3 minutes, before adding a good squirt of honey and a little lime juice. I then added a little of the marinade just to keep everything nice and moist and then sprinkled it lightly with Sansho pepper. Remember- be careful with that stuff! It WILL put your tongue to sleep if you are not! It is very powerful in flavor and is indeed a natural anaesthetic (!), but used discretely it has an amazing lemony flavor which is simply wonderful!

I added some coriander leaves to both the salad and the tofu, a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds as a garnish...  and was thrilled with the result! At last, tofu that tastes of something other than simply soy! Having said that, I did serve up a little soy sauce and sweet chili sauce by the side, for dipping... Hope you all enjoy!