Oriental Marinated Tofu

In an effort to embrace my New Year’s Resolution to eat more meat-free meals, I decided to overcome my fear of tofu.  I had always suspected it would be tasteless and rubbery and so had shunned it in favour of meat and fish.  My dear friend Alison convinced me with her recipe for marinated tofu that it could be a delicacy.  It’s brilliant with stir fried noodles or rice but is equally good just as a snack on its own.

Tofu is surprisingly delicate and can crumble fairly easily.  Because of this you need to press it to remove some of the liquid and make it firmer and easier to cut.

1. First, prepare the tofu.  Carefully drain the water from the tofu.  Wrap the block in a few layers of kitchen roll and place it on a board.  Put a heavy pan or book on top.  I use a frying pan and put a couple of tins on top to add extra weight.  Leave it for at least 10 minutes – I usually aim for an hour.  The longer you leave it weighted the firmer it will be.
      
2. While the tofu is firming up, prepare the marinade.  Put all of the remaining ingredients into a bowl or jug and whisk them to combine.
   
3. When the tofu has been weighted, cut it into cubes of roughly 2.5 cms/1″ square.  Arrange these in a flat layer in a container or dish that can hold the marinade.  Ideally you want the tofu in a small enough dish that the marinade can cover as much of the blocks as possible, but still a gap between the blocks so that it can reach the sides.  Pour the marinade over and put the container into the refrigerator.  Gently turn the tofu once or twice to make sure that all sides have been marinated. The longer the tofu marinates the better – I aim for at least an hour but all day is fine.
     
4. Preheat the oven to 175˚C or 165˚C Fan
5. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place the cubes on top. You can reserve the marinade and use it to glaze the tofu or as a sauce with accompanying noodles or rice.
   
6. Cook for 40 minutes. You can brush the cubes with a little of the leftover marinade and sprinkle with sesame seeds if you want.