Tofu Of My Dreams

This week I'm cooking from The Grit Cookbook by Jessica Greene and Ted Hafer. The Grit is a vegetarian restaurant in Athens, Georgia.

Let's address your fears of tofu first, shall we? I know, you cringe at the very thought of the white, tasteless stuff. If you see it floating around in a dish at a Chinese restaurant you avoid it. And you have good reason. On it's own, tofu is completely unappealing and bland.

In fact, it's just waiting for a good sauce or cooking treatment. If you marinate tofu, it will absorb the flavors - so think of tofu as some sort of culinary sponge. Some techniques call for wrapping the tofu in paper towels, then pressing for an hour with a stack of cookbooks (or whatever you've got that will press the tofu and force the water out of the bean curd.)

The recipe for Grit-Style Tofu on page 8 calls for double-cooking. Learning this technique and the patience required in the first step took several disappointing attempts. Eventually I got it right, and I was hoping that I'd get it right again.

First I got myself some extra-firm tofu. Though the recipe calls for firm, I find that extra-firm holds up better when cutting and in the initial cooking stages. I cut the tofu into small cubes; The Grit Cookbook suggests "smaller than playing dice." I just got as close as I could.

Tiny Tofu Cubes

I oiled my skillet, let it get hot,  and added the little tofu dice. Then I exercised great patience. The book suggests that you can "toss" until "evenly and lightly golden brown..." I have learned to not toss at all until you start to see some browning - that can take a long time. And when you think you've got enough, wait a little longer. Because the longer you wait in this particular step of recipe preparation, the better the reward in the end.

Tofu - slightly golden

This long cooking of the little cubes of tofu removes liquid. And the longer you can wait, the better your ultimate results. Really do wait until that tofu is golden. You'll notice a difference in texture because the tofu gets chewy.

And, just so you know, as the tofu releases water, it may do a little dance just for you. Mine jump up and down. One or two jump out of the pan. This dancing and jumping signals to me that the liquid in the tofu is evaporating and that the tofu cubes are really starting to turn golden. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I sprinkled the tofu with soy sauce and kept sauteeing. Then I poured the tofu onto a waiting plate lined with paper towels, and it looked like this:

I wiped out the skillet, added more oil, and returned to the burner. The second phase of cooking the tofu always goes fast. I put the tofu back into the pan with some oil and started tossing the tofu around so it became more brown. At this point the tofu is firmer and can handle being bossed around by a spatula.

I sprinkled the tofu with more soy sauce and added some nutritional yeast.

Nutritional Yeast: Do Not Eat A Mouthful

Tossed the tofu around. Added soy sauce and more nutritional yeast. Once coated and well-browned, I dropped the tofu onto a plate.

Tofu at the end of stage 2

My goal was to recreate The Grit's humble but mighty "Golden Bowl." I heated some rice in a bowl and put some of the tofu on top. I covered the tofu with shredded vegetables, some shredded cheese, and a dollap of butter. Then dug in.

The Golden Bowl

Ahhh, that's Grit heaven, people! The tofu was fabulous and chewy. The butter dissolved into the dish and added extra flavor. I ate the entire bowl, and had more for lunch the next day. The Grit-Style Tofu and Golden Bowl are one of my very favorite foods, and I'm so delighted to be able to prepare them at home. This is one satisfied lady.