Spicy Southeast Asian Tofu-Chicken Curry (vegan)
One of the most wonderful things about cooking and creating new recipes is that you never stop learning. You find out about new ingredients, new ways of preparing food, and simple tricks to change or improve texture and taste. Recently, I learned from a very dear friend who lives in Taiwan that by freezing and thawing tofu it changes its texture in a way that you could easily mistake it for chicken. My friend told me that this procedure is very common in Asian cuisine and that you can even buy pre-frozen tofu in Taiwanese stores. Please don’t tell me you knew that! I had never heard about this method and eagerly started my kitchen experiment with this mock chicken curry. The change of texture was fascinating and, from now on, there will always be at least one tofu waiting for me in the freezer!
You will need:
- …. to freeze your tofu for at least 1 day! I use pressed tofu and simply freeze it in the package. I you don’t, drain the liquid and freeze the tofu in a freezer bag. Thaw for about 6 hours before use!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb (450 g) pre-frozen, thawed, super firm tofu, cut into about 3/4 inch (2 cm) cubes
- marinade:
- 3/4 (180 ml) cup soy sauce ( I used gluten free)
- 4 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2 tsp Thai seasoning
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large red onion, quartered lengthwise, then sliced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, cored, halved lengthwise
- 14 oz (400 g) Asian mushrooms like shiitake, thickly sliced with stem ends removed, or maitake, torn into pieces
- 9 oz (250 g) grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 good-size bok choy, thickly sliced
- thumb-size fresh ginger, minced
- 1 yellow, orange, or red bell pepper, cored, quartered, then sliced
- two 13.66 fl oz (400 ml) cans full fat coconut milk
- chopped fresh cilantro to taste (I used about ½ cup)
Preparation:
In a medium-size bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients. Add cubed tofu and stir to coat. It should be covered with marinade for the most part.
Rinse and cut vegetables.
Preheat a wok or large pot over medium- high heat. Add extra virgin olive oil with sliced onion and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms and jalapeño halves, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir frequently.
Add tofu with marinade and cook for another 5 minutes.
Take 2 ladle-fulls of this mix out, leave the jalapeños though, and set aside.
Add grape tomatoes, bok choy, and ginger to the wok and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir frequently.
Reduce heat to medium and add coconut milk. Cook for about 5 minutes and season to taste with more Thai seasoning and soy sauce, if necessary.
Top with the tofu mushrooms you set aside before and lots of chopped, fresh cilantro. Serve with basmati rice, and enjoy!
Notes:
- Instead of rice, you could also serve this curry with pad thai noodles.
- I always add some turmeric to my brown basmati rice. It adds this nice yellow color.
