Spicy Peanut Tofu (+ A Giveaway)
I have a confession.
I’ve been a vegetarian for about 7 years, and I’ve never prepared tofu. (There was that one time when Brett made me dinner, and I watched him cook tofu. Does that count?) I know, I’m a poor excuse for a vegetarian π
Thankfully, the awesome folks at Nasoya offered to send me the Spork Foods, Spork-Fed cookbook, and some coupons for tofu, so I could give this a try! (They also gave me some awesome shorts. More on that later.) I flipped through the cookbook, which has tons of vegan recipes. They don’t all use tofu but I wanted to try one of those, because I’m always looking for a new adventure.
I flipped to this recipe with spicy peanut sauce, and since I love all things peanut, I figured this would be a good place to start. I did make some tweaks and substitutions along the way, based on what I had in my kitchen. I don’t keep as many vegan products on hand these days, so I had to get a little creative.
Tofu Satay with a Decadent Peanut Sauce
Based on the recipe from Spork-Fed Cookbook
Tofu Ingredients
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 2 tbsp vinegar (it called for rice, I used regular)
- 1 tbsp natural tasting high heat oil, plus 2 tablespoons (I used coconut)
- 1 tbsp palm sugar (I used plain granulated sugar)
- 2 tbsp tamari (I omitted this)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp finely ground pepper
Peanut Sauce ingredients
(I changed this a lot, so it’s not quite like the original!)
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 almond milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp red pepper flakes
First things first, you have to press your tofu. I just put mine on a plate, and stacked another plate on top of the tofu, and topped with some heavy books. After an hour or so, it was good to go! I sliced it into 8 triangles. Then I mixed together the next 6 ingredients, and marinated the tofu in that for about an hour. While that was marinating, I mixed together the peanut sauce.
I just grilled the tofu on my George Foreman for about 3 minutes. You could also use a grill pan (or a regular grill) but I didn’t have either of those, so George did just fine! I had the peanut sauce on the side for dipping, and ate this with some mix veggies stir fried in soy sauce.
And now, you have a chance to win some goodies of your own!
One lucky reader will win:
- A copy of the Spork Fed cookbook
- (5) Coupons for one free Nasoya tofu product
- A pair of Tofu U gym shorts; (Tofu U is Nasoyaβs online tofu college teaching users how to press, prep and cook tofu)
To win, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite way to use or cook with tofu! [If you have a link to a favorite recipe, I’d love to see those, too.]
You can get a bonus entry for liking my Facebook page! (Just let me another comment so I know that you did!) The winner will be announced on Friday!
To be honest, tofu is not in my usual rotation when I’m cooking either! However, it’s such a protein powerhouse that I’ve been wanting to incorporate it into more foods. This recipe above looks delish! I’d love to try that one out.
I haven’t cooked with tofu – unless you count using it as an egg substitute in brownie mix… I’ve had it cooked for me. Sometimes I like it, sometimes not. Depends on how it’s prepared. I recently had it in a dish from Pei Wei and was surprised it wasn’t in little cubes, but sliced and looking a lot like meat. I didn’t like it as well that way.
Does pressing the tofu give it a more meat-like texture? Never heard of pressing it before.
Pressing it gets rid of the water, and improves the texture. I’m still not sure I’d say it’s like a meat texture (although I haven’t had it in so long I might not remember!) but it’s definitely a better texture for things like stir fries, if it’s a little more firm. Pressing the water out ahead of time is easy! π
I cooked with tofu once, it went horribly wrong. I haven’t had it since.
My favorite way is to put tofu in stir fry. I know, I know, not very creative but my husband and I are always mixing in different seasonings for variation. You can also add in different vegetables for more of a Thai dish (broccoli, carrots, peanut sauce, soy sauce) or Mexican dish (black beans, corn, cumin, cilantro, tofu.) Stir fry is our favorite go-to dinner π
Nothing wrong with that!! Go with what you know π I love the idea of using it in a mexican dish!
Okay I’m a bad semi vegetarain also… I’ve never actually prepared tofu. Eaten it yes, but never cooked it. I once had a house guest who cooked it at my house (does that count?) but he prepared it plain (how wrong is that?) with plain quinoa (still wrong).
Plain tofu?! That sounds awful! haha (that’s like eating plain pasta or something!)
Love making tofu every once in a while, so yummy and a fun change up to the meal routine! Here’s my favorite way to make it, I like the smaller cubes since it really firms/crisps up the outside which makes the texture more palatable for moi π
http://cookinfanatic.com/2010/09/new-kitchen-gadget/
I also really enjoyed this recipe as well if you’re lookin for somethin’ different!
http://cookinfanatic.com/2012/02/vietnamese-vegetarian-salad-g%c6%a1i-chay/
I have lots of tofu coupons leftover so I’m definitely going to try some of those!!
My favorite way to prepare tofu is from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Plenty! It’s tofu with brussel sprouts and shiitake mushrooms with a sweet and spicy chile sauce. It’s divine and I have it at least twice a month. Very easy to prepare!
Here’s the recipe from Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/sweet-and-spicy-brussels-sprouts-with-tofu-and-mushrooms-recipe.html
Ohhh that sounds so good!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I can’t believe you’ve never prepared tofu before…how does that happen? Actually, tofu satay with peanut sauce is probably my favourite tofu recipe!
Hahaha I know, isn’t that crazy?! I’m proud to say I can do it π
I’ve actually never cooked with tofu… Only tried the premade stuff at Trader Joe’s or gotten it from the salad bar. I like eating it, but the TJ tofu incident was not a good one…
Hahaha yeah it’s kind of scary and the “pressing” part is what intimidated me. Thankfully, it really was pretty simple!
Glad to find out about pressing the tofu – that’s where I’ve been going wrong when I’ve been trying to make this kind of thing!
I tried making a peanut sauce before, but it didn’t quite turn out how I expected. I will definitely have to try out this recipe!
I love all things peanut so I haven’t had a peanut sauce go TOO wrong yet π
A variation I make is to use equal measures of the following mixed together: peanut butter (smooth), soy sauce, olive oil and water. Try it – I’m sure you’ll find it really easy and yummy π