This Miso Glazed Tofu offers the perfect marinade for tofu that can be served with rice or even added to a salad. Get ready for delicious days ahead!
Poor tofu. It gets such a bad rap. It doesn’t matter when I bring it up, people always grimace. Tofu is like Rodney Dangerfield: it gets no respect.
I can’t speak for Mr. Dangerfield, but I can say for tofu that it has the potential to be something fabulous. It just takes a little TLC and the right marinade. And I’ll share with you a little secret…I’ve found the marinade that works perfectly for tofu.
Most marinades are liquid-based which I always found problematic because I would spend time pressing the tofu to remove excess moisture, only to put it back into a liquid marinade. Now I use a semi-dry marinade and that does the trick.
But first, let me quote Bucky Bright. He’s the retired 50′s TV writer from the show 30Rock. He said in the second season episode, Subway Hero, “If you’re going to make something beautiful, you’ve got to make a mess of it first. I don’t care whether you’re making an omelet, a baby, or a television show. Things are gonna get weird.” The same can be said for tofu. It might get a little weird, but the end results will be worth it: beauty in every bite.
I wish I could serve this tofu to each person I’ve ever talked to who says they hate the stuff. Or to the woman at the grocery store who told me she wanted to buy tofu, but just didn’t know what to do with it. That makes tofu sound an awful lot a marathon. It’s one of those things that you need to conquer before you can lead a completely fulfilled life. But the tofu takes a lot less time…and won’t blow out your knees.
Miso Glazed Tofu
Ingredients:
- 1 package extra firm tofu, Pressed and cubed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white miso, any variety
- 2 tablespoons Bragg
- 2 tablespoons Agave nectar
Directions:
Remove the tofu from the package and drain any excess liquids. Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and place something with a little weight on top of it (like a can of beans or something to that effect). The goal is to press the tofu to drain excess fluids.
While the tofu is pressing, place the chopped onion, garlic and olive oil together in a medium-size container. I like to use a 9″ square pyrex pan with a lid. It’s big enough to hold the tofu, but flat so the marinade can spread out a bit.
In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, Bragg, and Agave Nectar. Add this to the chopped onion mixture and stir until well-combined.
Chop the tofu into 1″ cubes and place in the pan with the miso marinade. Stir everything together gently so that the marinade permeates the tofu. Let the tofu marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to several hours if you have the time.
When you’re ready to cook the tofu, pour a little olive oil in a medium-size skillet and heat the oil on medium to medium-high heat. You want it hot enough to brown the tofu but not so hot that it burns it. Place several pieces of tofu in the pan and allow each side of the tofu to brown just a bit. If you have some of the marinade sauce leftover, try pouring that over the tofu. If you don’t have any marinade sauce, adding a teaspoon or so of the Bragg at this point will help the tofu brown some more. In addition to browning the tofu, you’re trying to cook it long enough to firm up a bit as well.
Once that batch is browned and firmed to your liking, place it on a small cooking dish and keep it warm in the oven (a toaster oven works just fine here). Continue cooking the tofu in batches until all the tofu is done. After the last batch of tofu, add the remaining chopped onions and garlic to the skillet and cook them until tender.
You can serve Miso-Glazed Tofu with cooked onions and garlic over brown rice, rice noodles, or even atop a salad. It’s a delicious and healthy way to eat tofu any time of the year. Sorry Rodney, but this tofu gets lots of respect!
Marly, you’ve almost converted me to a tofu eater. Another recipe like this and I won’t be able to help myself.
November 3, 2011
9:24 am
OK. I’m on it!
November 3, 2011
12:46 pm
I’m all. over. this. as. soon. as. I. know. what. bragg. is.
November 3, 2011
10:56 am
Ahh, Bragg. You can use soy sauce, but if you’d like to keep it gluten-free, here’s a wonderful alternative: Bragg Liquid Aminos.
November 3, 2011
12:48 pm
Looks yummy! I’m wondering, would this work to bake, instead of frying it?
November 6, 2011
9:46 am
Absolutely! I love baking tofu. Here’s a link to a baked tofu recipe that was delicious, Hummus Crusted Tofu.
November 9, 2011
7:28 am
This looks like a great recipe for tofu! I can’t wait to try it out.
Here’s my favorite tofu recipe (because most of the time I forget to marinate!): http://bettybecca.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/tofu-homerun/.
November 6, 2011
2:55 pm
Looks delish!
November 9, 2011
7:28 am