Monday, July 23, 2007

Jerk Tofu


In my continued quest for tofu marinades, I tried out jerk tofu. If you're looking for a tofu marinade that's different and possibly something you haven't tasted before, definitely try out Isa's recipe. I've never tried anything with jerk seasonings so I had no idea what to expect, and nothing to compare it against. Which isn't very useful to those of you wondering how accurate it is, sorry. But for those of you who are feeling adventurous, it's still good right? (The few times I've seen places serving jerk marinated things, they've been meat. What's with that.) Anyway, the marinade combines all sorts of crazy things together like cinnamon, cayenne, thyme, maple syrup, soy sauce, ginger, onion and lime (among many other things). I have this idea in my head that things seasoned with jerk spices/marinades are supposed to be burnt. I don't know why or where that came from, but the burnt looking parts of the tofu didn't taste burnt. (Here's a picture of someone else's jerk tofu that may have been from the same recipe I used, only baked instead of pan fried.)


My apologies for this lackluster post. I'm not feeling very inspired right now. My fridge seems to be broken and I fear for the lives of all the food living in it. Well I think it's past that point now, so I'm just avoiding eating any of it until the fridge is fixed tomorrow (and new food is bought). I did use a melon baller for the first time today on a watermelon. That was insanely fun. I need my own melon baller now, and a giant watermelon so I can scoop and scoop large bowlfuls of perfect little watermelon balls.

Jerk Tofu
(Adapted from theppk by Isa Chandra Moskowitz)

Ingredients
1lb extra firm tofu, pressed for at least an hour*

For the marinade:
1/2 large white onion, roughly choppped
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
juice of 2 limes
zest of 1 lime
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1. Puree all ingredients for the marinade.

2. Slice the pressed tofu into long triangles like this:
Slice into eigths width-wise
Slice each eigth in half into a long triangle

3. Marinade tofu in a bowl for at least an hour covered, flipping slices a couple of times.

4. Prepare the skillet with a thin coat of olive oil and turn heat to medium high. When pan is hot, lay tofu in a single layer. Cook for 8 minutes on each side.

*To press tofu, wrap in paper towels or a clean dish towel and press under the weight of a heavy object, such as a skillet with a heavy book in it. Turn over after 1/2 hour. This will get the water out and allow the tofu to soak up more of the marinade.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds great! Must try it. I've never tried jerk before, either...

Anonymous said...

tofu's such a jerk, omg!

Anonymous said...

Jerk tofu sounds like something my husband would love.

Have fun with your melon baller! My husband just broke mine trying to scoop ice cream with it. Now it looks like some sort of torture device!

radioactivegan said...

I used to work at a cookie store and we used melon ballers to make very small cookies. There really is no end to what those bad boys can do.

eatme_delicious said...

evaberry: It's definitely worth a try!

celine: Yes, yes it is..

lynn: I was just thinking before you commented about trying to scoop ice cream with it! But it seems like it's best for watermelon since it's so easy to cut through.

jamie: Oh that's a really good idea I must remember, thanks!

Becky said...

While I have not tried your specific recipe, I have made jerk-tofu before and I love it! In my pre-veg days I used to love jerk chicken, jerk goat, anything marinated in jerk spices. So I can say it does compare. While not exactly the same, I'm sure anyone who likes spiciness and tofu, will like this! Tip: Use scotch bonnet peppers instead of jalapeno's. Tip #2: marinade it for as long as possible to get even more jerky flavour!

Becky said...

I forgot to read over my comment, so I'm not sure if I said Scott Bonnet Peppers, or Scotch Bonnet Peppers. Either way, it's SCOTCH BONNET PEPPERS. lol, I do apologize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_bonnet_%28pepper%29

liz said...

this is so so good. i let leftovers marinate overnight and it was doubly good the next day. P.S. someone sent this around our office, and it turned into a "trending topic" last week on our internal intranet.

eatme_delicious said...

liz: Yaey so glad you enjoyed it! I need to try it again. That's so awesome that it was a trending topic. :) I feel lucky to have been highlighted!