I had tried a scrumptious tofu dish with honey and ginger at the Happy Sumo restaurant in Provo, Utah. I have ordered tofu at countless restaurants since, in New York, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, to no avail. The taste and consistency of tofu seem to baffle my Indian taste buds.
I decided to take matters, and veggies, into my own hand and tried experimenting on my marble countertop. Here then, is my recreation of the flavorful, aromatic, and lip-smackin’ tofu salad, second-best only to the one in beautiful, snowy Provo.
Try it.
Honey Ginger Tofu, in all its glory
Recipe:
In a non-stick pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and allow to heat on medium flame. Add 1 tablespoon of minced ginger and 2 cloves of minced garlic; sauté for a minute until the ginger and garlic are pink. Add 14 ounces of tofu, cut in cubes, and fry for a minute. Add one tablespoon water and slide a lid on the pan. Tofu does stick on the bottom of the pan so make sure you stir occasionally, use a non-stick pan, and keep adding tablespoons of water as it dries out.
Once the tofu is tender (it takes about 5 minutes), add diced spring onions and sauté. Once the spring onions begin to brown, add cap-sized or diced carrots, green peppers and celery stalks. Make sure that you clean the celery in salt water, and dice the stalks, keeping the leaves separately for the garnish. Keep adding water to the pan and slide the lid on at regular intervals. It takes about 10 minutes to soften the carrot and the green peppers.
While the veggies are being steamed, in a separate bowl prepare the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, one teaspoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of vinegar, one tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of chilli sauce (you can substitute this with ketchup, Manchurian sauce, salsa or schezwan sauce of your choice).
Mix the ingredients and stir into the tofu and veggie mixture. Again, slide on the lid and allow the flavors of the sauces to steep into the veggies. In another bowl put all the celery leaves and add one tablespoon honey. Mix thoroughly. Add this garnish to the tofu and veggies, stir once and serve hot.
This dish may be eaten as a main entrée with a bowl of soup and bread or as a side salad with eggs.
HealthWise:
Tofu is a low-fat, low-sodium source of protein, iron, calcium, and antioxidants such as manganese, coppers and selenium. It fights LDL or bad cholesterol, lowers incidence of heart disease, contains omega-3 fatty acids (usually found in fish), fends off prostate cancer in men, breast cancer in women. It is also useful for women in the peri-menopausal and menopausal stages because it contains plant-estrogen.
Celery leaves also known to lower high blood pressure, and consumption of celery stalks is known to cause weight loss. Celery also contains nutrients such as Vitamin C, iron, potassium, and calcium. Celery stalks and leaves contain acetylenics and phenolic acid, which are thought to fight cancer.
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