Tofu Sandwiches – Two out of Three Thumbs Up
So a couple of days ago I made the Smokey Miso Tofu recipe from Vegan Yum Yum and we loved it. Alex didn’t care for it very much and I can’t blame him, but he’s really good about trying new things and re-trying things he didn’t like before and acquiring new tastes. He can try it again another time.
As I mentioned before, I couldn’t get my hands on any miso so my tofu was missing the main intended flavour! Even so, the soy sauce, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, sugar and lemon juice all together was still flavourful enough and the tofu was delicious. We made our sandwiches on toasted kaiser rolls with spinach, tomato, onions, mayo and I added Guk sauce to mine because I like it (it’s a seasoned mayo from Lick’s).
This was my first experience with liquid smoke and with cooking with tofu. The liquid smoke is weird! It comes in a small bottle with a flip-top dropper lid, like hot sauce. It’s really strong, and smells like smoked meat. Let me emphasize, it’s REALLY strong. Use sparingly! I think our bottle will last us for years. It’s used in meat marinades mostly, and I think it would be kick-ass in a homemade hamburger patty. It comes in different flavours; we got hickory.
The tofu surprised me. I wasn’t sure what texture I expected it to have as my experience is with softer tofu in stir-fried dishes; I didn’t realize it would be kind of chewy! This recipe calls for extra firm tofu with the excess water wicked out of it by wrapping in a towel and pressing. After dinner when we got hungry again, we finished off the tofu as a snack and it was really good. And I’m craving more. I hope to make it again tomorrow, but this time with miso. Jeremy is going to try to find some on his way home from work before he leaves the city.
This was also my first time with nutritional yeast. It’s interesting and I like it a lot. It comes in flakes, it’s a golden colour and has a kind of rich, pungent smell and taste. I used to be scared of this ingredient, avoiding vegan recipes that called for it because I had no earthly idea what it was. Now I know, it’s not scary!
Tonight I’m making pasta with a portobello mushroom cream sauce. I’m making up the recipe as I go, so if it’s any good, I’ll post about it later.
9 responses so far
I need to find some liquid smoke!
I had a portobello sandwich for lunch yesterday. Just threw mushroom under the broiler for a while, flipping once and adding some smoked gouda on top at the end. Good stuff.
Also need to check out nutritional yeast. I didn’t realize it had protein and vitamins. Neat!
That sounds really good. I think we’ll have that for dinner later in the week!
One of the things I was worried about was that the nutritional yeast might bear some resemblance to yeast spreads, like Vegemite, which I can’t tolerate. But it doesn’t, it’s actually really tasty. I think you’d like it, it’s flavour is akin to an aged cheese, without actually tasting like cheese, if you know what I mean.
Mmm… nooch… Adam loves the stuff (he has his own little shaker so he can add it pasta or anything else you’d typically put cheese on).
oh that sounds good.
I have only used tofu once before–I hid it in a stirfry.
I use liquid smoke in homemade BBQ sauce for ribs…it’s good!
http://scylka.blogspot.com/2007/04/kansas-city-ribs.html
I just bookmarked that recipe, thanks! Did you really cook them for 8 hours?
Kimberly, I wrote “nooch” on the plastic container that’s storing the yeast, which Jeremy thought was particularly funny.
I feel you on the Liquid Smoke. I can totally go without it, and I leave it out of recipes that call for it. I would rather use worshashahshshshsh sauce instead. Lol. You can totally change the texture of that tofu, by freezing it before hand. Let it unthaw on stove, and then press the liquid out. It gives it an even firmer consistency, which can be great on the tongue. I find many people can’t get pass the texture of tofu to give it a fair chance in the taste department. I totally love nutritional yeast. It reminds me of the cheesy enzyme powder that goes in instant mac n cheese.
I can’t share your love of nutritional yeast. :shudder:
I don’t know where in Canada you are, but if you have anyone come visit you from Western Canada perhaps they can bring you some Shin-Mei-Do Miso. It is manufactured on Denman Island, BC, and their products seem to be distributed only in the West, but in major food stores.
http://www.shinmeidomiso.com/productinfo.html
Whenever I think yeast, I think of vegimite, and the God-awfulness of that stuff, and I slowly back away. Still, that tofu sandwich looks REALLY yummy. Too bad I’d be the only one eating it….
Houston, we have miso! Jeremy found some on his way home from work last night. So tonight Alex gets hotdogs and we get to try the tofu again, the way it was meant to taste.