Chow Mein with Asian Style Tofu

We made the chow mein again with one important alteration, we used the Asian Style Tofu recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance instead of the store bought stuff. It makes a substantial difference to bite into a deliciously marinated and freshly broiled chunk of tofu… yumm!!

The marinade is pretty simple, and the tofu can be used with loads of different recipes so whip up a batch and throw it into whatever you have planned for dinner tonight… what could go wrong :)

1 package tofu (some where between 350 and 454 grams), drained and cut into cute triangles
1/2 c. mirin
3 Tbsp tamari
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp. Asian chile sauce (or hot sauce)
1 inch ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed

Combine the ingredients in a large shallow container (loaf pans tend to work well) add the tofu and marinate for an hour flipping after 30 minutes. Place the tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, flip the tofu and bake for another 10 minutes. Finally broil until the tofu browns, it only takes a couple of minutes, then flip and brown the other side.

Note that the temp and times are different from Isa’s recipe since we found 30 minutes at 400 degrees left the tofu very dry. Also note that mirin is an asian cooking wine, I accidentally bought a sweet, mirin-like, cooking wine and so we used a lot less of it and added water to make up the difference, it still turned out great so if you happen to have the same problem reading labels as I do, no worries it will work out… as long as someone notices you bought the wrong bottle :)

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We recently bought a Chinese cabbage and decided to make a green heavy version of chow mein. We added the entire head of lettuce and a little chopped kale. The only other veggie was onion. When the onions are translucent, add the greens with about 1/3 cup of water then mix and cover. Let things steam for 3-5 minutes stirring once or twice and making sure there’s at least a little water. When the greens are cooked (which you can test by eating a little bit of the cabbage, it should be crispy-tender) add the noodles (see the original chow mein post) and some splashes of braggs (or tamari) sesame seed oil and rice vinegar.

It’s nice to eat a lot of greens, especially in the summer when they are so plentiful and cheap. We had never tried Chinese cabbage before and I really liked it, I want to cook with it again… soon.