Miso-Sesame Baked Tofu

In this cookbook I have, there's this recipe on baked tofu that uses dark soy sauce, tamari, honey, ginger, garlic and toasted sesame oil as the marinade. Notice the little golden chunks of tofu below? Pretty, right?

Hoisin and Sesame Tofu Fry

Here's a really simple and quick to make tofu dish - You'll need hoisin sauce and some white sesame seeds.

Hoisin and Sesame Tofu Fry

Servings: 2 bite sized pieces

• 50 grams of extra firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
• Oil to fry

To make:
Cut the tofu about an inch thick.
Coat generously with the hoisin sauce. Let it marinate for an hour or so.

Dip the tofu in the sesame seeds.

Shallow fry or grill the tofu till nice and brown on the outside.

Asparagus Sesame Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• Handful of asparagus
• Some red pepper
• Teaspoon of white sesame seeds
• Olive oil
• Quarter of an onion, chopped
• A thumb-sized portion of fresh ginger, julienned

Firstly, the asparagus either has to be tender or young enough to eat raw. I wouldn't boil the asparagus before the "stir fry" either. Have it raw so that its crunchy along with the sesame seeds.

So, to begin, chop the onion and the ginger. Saute them for a minute in a wok on a high flame.

Add the asparagus to the wok - The object is just to get it coated in oil, NOT to cook the asparagus all the way through. So turn off the gas in another minute or so.

Once off the flame, add the sesame seeds and the sliced peppers. Mix well and enjoy immediately.

My Miso Soup

I had this for dinner last nite as I was eager to taste what Korean miso tastes and looks like - definitely a lot darker in color than the Japanese one - almost a brick or burnt red color. I wanted to stay true to the original recipe and make it just with miso paste and tofu, but I made the mistake of putting my tofu in the freezer and it wouldn't thaw fast enough for my post-work hunger. So I improvised with cabbage, baby corn and asparagus. I boiled the asparagus for 2-3 minutes, which did leave some of the stalks a bit chewy and sinewy - So, I'd recommend boiling them for an additional minute or so.

Ingredients:

• 1 large tablespoon of Korean miso
• Two baby corns, chop into bite size morsels
• A big handful of green cabbage, julienned
• A small handful of asparagus (stalks?)
• A small knob of ginger
• Sesame seeds to garnish

To make:

• Boil the cut asparagus for 3-5 minutes.
• Drain and plunge into ice water.
• Retain the water used to boil the asparagus.
• Pour some of it over the miso paste in a seperate bowl.
• Stir till the miso is dissolved and gives off a lovely brown color.
• Add that back to the asparagus water.
• Add the ginger, finely chopped, to the boiling water.
• Put this back on the gas and bring to a boil, then turn off the gas.
• In your serving bowl, add the cabbage, corn and asparagus at the bottom of the bowl.
• Pour over your miso-ginger water over the vegetables in the bowl.
• Garnish with sesame seeds on top.
• Serve immediately.

Note: I did not forget to mention salt. The miso is salty enough on its own. Plus, I dont use salt or sugar.

Time to make: 5-10 minutes, tops.