By popular demand, here is the recipe for the Japanese style baked tofu I wrote about in the Autumn Kaiseki post.  It is similar to a frittata, but obviously a healthier alternative being vegetarian.  It is just as good for a kaiseki (warm) as it would be for a lunch box (cold).

Ingredients 60g soaked [...]]]>

By popular demand, here is the recipe for the Japanese style baked tofu I wrote about in the Autumn Kaiseki post.  It is similar to a frittata, but obviously a healthier alternative being vegetarian.  It is just as good for a kaiseki (warm) as it would be for a lunch box (cold).

Ingredients
60g soaked weight of konbu (soaked in water for half an hour prior to weighing)
100g carrot
100g burdock (you can use frozen or fresh, whatever is available)
10-15 shimeji mushrooms
Boiling stock – 3 tbs sake, 1.5tbs usuguchi (light) soy, 1 teaspoon sugar
750g fresh firm cotton tofu (I use Yenson’s Super Tofu, the one in the large takeaway container)
Add to base:
4tbs white miso
2 teaspoons sugar
1tbs usuguchi (light) soy
1tbs mirin
3tbs sake
Oil for greasing tin

Method
Cut the kombu, carrot, burdock and shimeji mushrooms to a uniform matchstick size, and simmer in the boiling stock ingredients until tender. The liquid will almost evaporate, so just keep and eye on it to ensure the vegetables don’t burn.

In a separate pot, cover the block of tofu with water, bring to a high simmer and cook for five minutes. Remove from water and place on a cheese cloth lined sieve and weight the tofu to draw out the moisture. You could do this by inverting a plate over the block of tofu and weighting with a tin can for about half an hour.

Once drained, put tofu through a uragoshi (very fine sieve) and mix with white miso, sugar, soy, mirin and sake. Add the matchstick vegetables and mix well to combine.

Grease a square-ish tin (something like a tamago yaki pan is perfect), transfer and spread mixture evenly and bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees Celsius) for about 25-30 mins. You’re looking for a nice golden hue to the top, and the sides will start to pull away from the pan.

Remove from the oven and let settle in the pan for at least half an hour.  Cut from the pan and serve.

Both EG and I absolutely adore tofu – silken, firm, puffed or frozen. We eat it dressed with tamari and sesame oil, or pan fried in teriyaki ginger sauce, or stuffed with fish paste in a soup, or cubed in miso. [...]]]> Queen Victoria Market
76 Therry Street, Melbourne
Phone: 03 9329 1267

Both EG and I absolutely adore tofu – silken, firm, puffed or frozen. We eat it dressed with tamari and sesame oil, or pan fried in teriyaki ginger sauce, or stuffed with fish paste in a soup, or cubed in miso. I could go on. In fact…I will. I have even converted EG into the delights of tofu mixed in with our morning breakfast of five grain porridge!

So we were quite impressed when we came upon this scrambled tofu dish at Invita, an outdoor cafe at the Queen Victoria Market that professes a somewhat healthy, fresh and organic bent. My only problem with the place is my comfort level in the winter. It really is quite chilling to place ones arse on their cold metal seats and basque in the glory of their tofuness.

Despite that, their coffee is hot (and a good brew to boot), and I can highly recommend their fruit toast as well. The not-bacon on the other hand is an acquired taste and should be avoided at all cost. What travesty.

Anyway, back to the scrambled tofu. The first thing that hit me was the sweetness of caramalised onion and carrot – those babies had been cooking for quite some time. Then rehydrated shitake added some earthiness, tumeric some pepperyness, and wilted spinach some body. And it was all freshened up with long thin slices of cucumber. Some toasted sourdough to the side, and baby, it was health on a plate.

I was so inspired after that (..and Invita, don’t hate me), I decided to recreate the dish at home. Well…they are not bloody open for dinner, are they?

RECIPE: Scrambled Tofu (Invita-style)

1 block of firm organic tofu
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium carrot, grated
4 dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water for 30 minutes, sliced
A couple of handfuls of baby spinach
1 tsp turmeric
Cracked black pepper and sea salt (to taste)
1 red chilli (optional)
1 cucumber, sliced into strips
Coriander leaves for garnish
Whatever bread you love, toasted

Place olive oil, onions and carrots into a fry pan and cook gently on a low heat for approx 10-15 minutes (you want these to caramalise and sweeten). Add the chilli, turmeric, shitake and spinach and cook until the spinach begins to wilt. Crumble the tofu into the pan and heat through, perhaps turning the heat up just a little to give it a last burst of heat. Note: be careful not to turn the tofu into mush. Season with cracked black pepper and salt.

To serve: place the scrambles on a warmed plate and garnish with cucumber and coriander. Add a toasted bagel or some sour dough and dig in.