A PL&B Original Recipe: Coconut Crusted Tofu

Okay, unfortunately I had no pictures to go with this post, so I had to gank them from various places around the internet (if you click on them, it'll take you to the source).


I am so excited to introduce you to another PL&B Original Recipe: Coconut Crusted Tofu!


This recipe was inspired by some coconut crusted tilapia that Emily made for Brandon and I a few weeks ago. I was so enamored with the fish, that I really wanted to retry the coconut crusting on something else. I thought about doing it on tempeh - which I might still do - but tofu seemed like the appropriate medium. Plus I had some in my fridge.


While eating our coconut crusted tilapia (and celebrating Tu B'Shevat with four bottles of wine) we pondered some life-sized questions. In a Tu B'Shevat Seder, you explore four worlds in representing them with different fruits and glasses of wine:


The Physical World - a fruit that is inedible outside and edible inside (we represented this with a clementine). Plus one glass of white wine


The Emotional World - a fruit that is edible outside and inedible inside (we represented this world with a date). Plus, a glass of wine that is half red, half white


The Intellectual World - a fruit that is completely edible (represented by a fig) and one glass of wine that is 1/4 white and 3/4 red


The Spiritual World - no fruits, just a glass of red wine with one drop of white


What do these worlds mean to you? Why do you think they would be represented by those specific types of fruits?

Coconut Crusted Tofu
over a bed of wilted cabbage

The tofu can also be baked instead of pan-fried. I accidentally burned the tofu because I was using a [too] hot cast-iron skillet. Baking might make them a bit more enjoyably brown instead of dark and crispy like mine were.


Ingredients:

1 package tofu

1 cup flour

1 tbs cornstarch

1 egg

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or not - your choice)

oil or clarified butter for pan-frying

half head of red cabbage, quartered and cut into thin ribbons

fine grain sea salt

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or clarified butter

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

a handful or two of raisins (or chopped dates)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to garnish (optional)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion for a few minutes, with a few pinches of salt. Stir in the garlic and cabbage and cook for just a minute or so, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Stir in the raisins and the vinegar and cook one more minute. Remove from heat, remember, the cabbage will continue to get more and more tender even after you remove it from the heat, do your best to avoid overcooking it - where it collapses entirely. Plate your wilted cabbage and garnish with a bit of Parmesan if desired.

Drain and slice tofu as desired, I prefer flat slices as opposed to cubes. Beat egg and put in a bowl that is big enough to dip your slices of tofu. Mix the cornstarch with the flour and pile it on a plate or bowl for dipping. Place coconut on another plate or bowl for dipping. First, dip the tofu in the flour mixture so it’s lightly coated. Next, dunk coated tofu in egg. Finally, coat with coconut and set aside. Heat enough oil (or butter) to coat the bottom of your skillet on medium heat. Pan fry the coconut dipped tofu until the coconut is golden brown then flip and brown the other side. Set on a paper towel or over a cooking rack to drain.

Serve tofu over bed of cabbage.




Peace, Love & Bagels,

(oh and just an aside, what do you think about me doing a post series about "A Week In The Life Of My Stomach"? Got the idea from Ashley) 

Daring Cooks: Soba Noodles and Tempura Veggies

 

This was my first ever Daring Cooks challenge. It's something I decided to participate in as yet another way to increase my prowess in the kitchen and WOW did I challenge myself this month!

This month's challenge was hosted by Lisa from Blueberry Girl, and she chose to challenge everyone to a Japanese treat: Cold Soba Noodle Salad and...

TEMPURA FRIED VEGGIES?!?!

I don't eat very much fried food and when I do, it's almost certainly at a restaurant because I'm terrified of deep frying anything. I chose to do veggies because I don't really like shrimp and don't really trust the fish in Ohio since we're nowhere near an ocean.

The other side of this challenge was the cold soba noodle salad. Here's where I absolutely shined. I just discovered Heidi Swanson's Otsu recipe while we were on Maui and it absolutely swept me off my feet! A few months ago I stocked up on soba noodles from an asian foods market and I haven't had the chance to use them, so here was my chance!! For the record, at the asian food market in Ohio, 48 ounces of soba noodles were $3.99; on Maui at Whole Foods, 8 ounces of soba noodles were $4. Holy high cost of living...and Whole Foods prices. This dish is spicy, so leave out the cayenne if you don't want the heat. It's veggies and pan-fried tofu mixed with the noodles and a delicious spicy ginger sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. This is a recipe that is DEFINITELY worth giving the time of day.

Anyway, back to the tempura...I was so happy to learn how to do this! My batter wasn't too thick so they didn't come out as breaded as your traditional tempura veggies, but I liked them that way. Again, I generally steer clear of deep fried anything (except poop...that story later) but it's a good kitchen skill to have and if I do eat fried stuff, tempura is always the way to go.

I loved the crispiness of the batter, which you get from keeping it on ice. My sweet potatoes needed to be blanched first, because they were still very starchy and uncooked. So either make sure you blanch your potatoes or slice them very very very thin so they cook through. The mushroom and asparagus were to die for. For dipping, I simply mixed some Bragg's Aminos with Sriracha sauce but they would be even better with a sweet and sour sauce (I'm posting a recipe anyway even though we didn't make it).

Tempura Veggies (this recipe came directly from the Daring Cooks forums)

Ingredients
1 egg yolk from a large egg
1 cup (240 ml) iced water
½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for dredging
½ cup (120 ml) (70 gm) (2½ oz) cornflour (also called cornstarch)
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (2½ gm) (0.09 oz) baking powder
oil, for deep frying preferably vegetable
ice water bath, for the tempura batter (a larger bowl than what will be used for the tempura should be used. Fill the large bowl with ice and some water, set aside)

Very cold vegetables:

• Sweet potato, peeled, thinly sliced, blanched
• Assorted fresh mushrooms
• Asparagus

Directions:

1. Place the iced water into a mixing bowl. Lightly beat the egg yolk and gradually pour into the iced water, stirring (preferably with chopsticks) and blending well. Add flours and baking powder all at once, stroke a few times with chopsticks until the ingredients are loosely combined. The batter should be runny and lumpy. Place the bowl of batter in an ice water bath to keep it cold while you are frying the tempura. The batter as well as the vegetables and seafood have to be very cold. The temperature shock between the hot oil and the cold veggies help create a crispy tempura.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan or a wok. For vegetables, the oil should be 320°F/160°C; for seafood it should be 340°F/170°C. It is more difficult to maintain a steady temperature and produce consistent tempura if you don’t have a thermometer, but it can be done. You can test the oil by dropping a piece of batter into the hot oil. If it sinks a little bit and then immediately rises to the top, the oil is ready.
3. Start with the vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, that won’t leave a strong odor in the oil. Dip them in a shallow bowl of flour to lightly coat them and then dip them into the batter. Slide them into the hot oil, deep frying only a couple of pieces at a time so that the temperature of the oil does not drop.
4. Place finished tempura pieces on a wire rack so that excess oil can drip off. Continue frying the other items, frequently scooping out any bits of batter to keep the oil clean and prevent the oil (and the remaining tempura) from getting a burned flavor.
5. Serve immediately for the best flavor, but they can also be eaten cold.

Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water (125 ml)
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar (60 ml)
• 1/4 cup sugar (60 ml)
• 3 tablespoons ketchup (45 ml)
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry (15 ml) (sub mirin)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (15 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili oil (2 ml) (sub sriracha chili sauce)
• 1-1/2 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water (22 ml)

Directions:

1. Combine all sauce ingredients except cornstarch solution in a medium-size saucepan. Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. Set aside.

Are there any cooking techniques that you want to try out? Have you ever made tempura anything? What was your experience with it??

Peace, Love & Bagels,