Hoisin Baked Tofu Vermicelli

A vegetarian rice noodle salad with vegetables, herbs, and sweet and salty baked tofu.

Tofu is a simple and inexpensive meat alternative.  For most cooking, my favorite is Aloha Tofu firm tofu (it's local).  Firm tofu holds its shape through many types of cooking and it absorbs sauce and marinade flavors well.  Baking tofu is a simple preparation that dries it out slightly giving it a chewy more meaty texture (texture is very important to me...I don't want it to be mushy and this way it's not).  It is a great way to replace meat and still be satisfied.

Hoisin Baked Tofu is simple & inexpensive meat alternative  [Tweet this]

I just mixed up a simple sauce of equal parts hoisin and soy sauces.  The two sauces give the tofu a dark color and a sweet, salty, and bold flavor.  It has an almost meaty flavor with less than half the calories of most meats.

Great taste w/ #halfthecalories of chicken  [Tweet this]

Hoisin Baked Tofu

Prep time: about 45 min (30 are inactive)
Cook time:  30 min
Servings:  6

Ingredients:

20 ounces firm tofu (I use Aloha brand)
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce

Remove the tofu from the pack and drain the water.  (If needed)Cut it in half crosswise so you have 2 pieces of about 1 inch thick (approximate 4x4 inch squares).

Place the halves side by side on an absorbent towel (or a couple layers of paper towel) lined sheet pan.  Cover the tofu with another towel and pan or plate and place a little weight on top (a cast iron skillet works well, or a jug of juice).

Allow the tofu to press (this squeezes out excess moisture) for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F

Then cut the tofu squares in half and then into 1x2 inch slices that are about 1/4 inch thick (none of this is exact I just guestimate).  If this doesn't make sense to you, just cut it whatever way you like I find that 1/4 inch thick pieces work best.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Mix the hoisin and soy sauces together until well combined and brush/spread on both sides of the tofu slices.

Lay the tofu slices out side by side on the baking sheet.

Bake at 400F for 15 minutes then flip each slice over and bake for 10-15 minutes longer.

Makes about 6 servings.

Serve immediately or leftovers are great cold (great addition to spring rolls)

Ingredients continued:

Bean Sprouts
Lettuce
Mint
Thai basil
Cilantro
Vermicelli rice noodles, cooked
Carrots, julienned or shredded
Green onion
Jalapenos, sliced
Hoisin Baked Tofu
Nuoc Cham

Place all the vegetables, herbs, noodles, and chicken in a big salad bowl (use as much of each as you like).  Then pour the nuoc cham over everything (I usually use a few tablespoons but use as much as you like).

Enjoy.

Other recipes mentioned in this post:

Spring Rolls

Nuoc Cham

For more vermicelli recipes check out:

Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli

Char Siu (BBQ Pork) Vermicelli

Linked to:  2 Cup, Lou Lou Girls, TicklemyTastebuds, Wake Up, Full Plate, Freedom, Foodie Friends, Pretty Pintastic

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Tofu Thai Green Curry

The sweetness of coconut milk, the sourness of lime, and the saltiness of fish sauce. A Thai green curry made with tofu and vegetables.  Delicious.

Green curry is the spiciest of the Thai curries and my husband's favorite.  He doesn't even mind that I use tofu in it sometimes (and he actually enjoys it).  I like to try to make things from scratch as much as possible.  Since I live so close to Chinatown, I can find most of the ingredients to make my own green curry paste and it is awesome.  Another good thing about making it yourself is that you can adjust the spiciness to your own taste.  The curry paste I make is probably not authentic, I found the recipe on thaifood.about.com, but it is simple and tastes wonderfully fresh and is better than many restaurant versions.  I love this recipe and make it frequently.

Green Curry Paste

Ingredients:

Modified slightly from about.com Thai Green Curry
**Makes 1 serving, enough for 4 servings of Green Curry**

 
4-5 cloves garlic
2 jalapenos (or Thai green chillies)
2 shallots (about 1/4 cup)
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro (use the roots too if you can find them)
1/2 cup Thai basil
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 Tbsp lime juice (2 limes)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk

Puree all of the above ingredients together in a blender until smooth.  Pour into a container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Tofu Thai Green Curry

Ingredients:

the rest of the can of coconut milk
1-2 Tbsp lemon grass, minced
1 block tofu (12 oz), chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 hand full long green beans, 1 inch pieces

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium low heat.  Add a little oil, then all of the curry paste (it's not really paste like, there is enough liquid in it that it pours easily), lemon grass and the rest of the coconut milk.

Cover and allow mixture to come to a gentle boil then add the the tofu (I used deep fried tofu because I like the texture the best) and cover.

Reduce the temperature and let the tofu simmer in the sauce for a few minutes and then add the veggies.  Cover again and let simmer for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

Remove from heat and serve over rice with more cilantro, basil, lime, and jalapeno.  Makes 4 servings.

This meal is delicious.  The ingredient list is long, but it doesn't really take very long since most of the ingredients are being blended you could even make the sauce a day or two before you plan to make the curry.  This time did not turn out very spicy at all, I kept the seeds in one jalapeno and removed them from the other, next time I may use more jalapenos and keep the seeds in them all.  My husband (who likes a lot of spice) just loaded his with sliced, raw jalapenos as the garnish and he was happy.  Enjoy.

I made cocktails to  accompany the meal too.  I will post about this cocktail next time.

Linked to:  Retro Repin

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