Szechuan Tofu with Stir-Fried Rice and Seasoned Potatoes

Today in class, we experimented with alternative proteins. This was a subject that I usually found, as a meat lover, unappealing. Before this, my exposure to Tofu had been limited. Besides the occasional Pad Thai and Tofu tempura, I really don’t eat it let only cook with it. Though it was unfamiliar water, I really found that this menu helped me progress not only as a chef, but as a foodie.

At first glance, the tofu looked absurdly wet and kinda gross. This was easily fixed with a trick my chef showed me. By sandwiching the paper towel rapped tofu between a strainer and 1 lbs of weight (pint of water), we were able to extract the water and not have the tofu lose shape.

After removing the excess water, we sliced it fairly thick and fried it in a wok. The crispy texture was amazing and it got a great color. Easily the best way I have had tofu.

The tofu is glazed with a soy/sesame sauce. It contained soy sauce, sesame oil, sambal chili paste and salt and pepper. After mixing, reducing it on the stove allows you to get a great syrup consistency that will coat the tofu well. After glazing the tofu, finish in the oven to get sauce to really stick.

The potatoes were oven fried fingerling wedges. Just season them with what ever you’d like, and toss them in some oil with your chosen spices. Bake ‘em in a hot oven and get them nice and crispy.

For the stir-fry, just add a little oil in the wok and get it screamin’ hot. Then add your veggies depending on their cooking times (i.e. carrots take longer than peppers). After they are cooked added steamed rice and cook till crispy.
Whatever flavor you want to add is up to you. In this one, there is a hoisin and sesame oil mixture that we poured in part way through cooking. It caramelized a little bit and was delicious.

Though this tofu experience was a little intimidating, the outcome was a delicious and cohesive dish and really turned my views on tofu.