Over-Stuffed Tofu
4 blocks of the large size koyadofu
For the tofu:
3 cups water
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
Bring to a boil. Add the koyadofu and boil for about 10 minutes. Then let them sit in the hot liquid for another 5 minutes, covered.
For the stuffing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 small nub of ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 large carrot or 2 small
2 cups spinach, cut into bite size pieces
handful toasted walnuts
2 Tbsp green onions, sliced
Before preparing the stuffing, drain the koyadofu and leave it in a strainer. It will be far too hot to handle, so I put a bag of frozen veggies in the strainer and set it aside while I make the stuffing.
Fry the ginger and garlic in the oil. After a minute or two add the carrots, spinach, and soy sauce. Fry it all together until the spinach is wilted, about 5-8 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the toasted walnuts and green onions and mix it all together.
Now that the tofu is cooled enough to handle, use a serated knife to cut a pocket into the tofu on the long side. Like this:
Then shove as much stuffing into it as you can with a spoon. I think it looks good a little over-stuffed.
I then put all four filled pieces onto a glass baking dish and put it in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 (celsius-350 Fahrenheit) just to bring everything back to the same temperature. Enjoy!If you have extra filling, it works nicely in a tofu scramble for breakfast the next day.
The filling is also very flexible depending on your tastes or what you have on hand. I think almond slivers would work to replace the walnuts. You could also use different vegetables you have on hand or some spices. I kept spices out, to more mimic the Japanese style of cooking.
If you don't live in Japan, I'm sure you can get koyadofu in an Asian market.
Let me know what you think!
--Pamela
I also made this recipe for the Iron Chef Challenge.
3 comments:
I LOVE this idea. I'm guessing it would work with regular firm Tofu if you just take a bit of care. There ain't no way I can buy koyadofu from round here. Even my local Asian Supermarket only stocks one kind of Tofu!!
I think you could use firm tofu, but I don't think I'd boil it. Maybe bake it first using the soup stock in the recipe. Let me know if you try it.
I love the step by step photos of your recipe. It looks delicious. I've never tried koyadofu before. I'm going to have to check out my local Asian grocery store to see if they carry it. your version looks delicious and I love the idea of stuffing it.
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