Full transcript of “The Tofu Technique I Wish I’d Known”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 - Today I'm gonna show you the simple technique I use to transform a humble block of tofu into something deeply savory and wildly addictive. I'll also be sharing two lovely weeknight recipes that you can use this in. By the way, I have joined New York Times Cooking as a contributor, so you can find this recipe over there. More on that later in the video. For now, let's get started on the tofu. So I've got a block of super firm tofu here, and one of the reasons I wish I had known about this technique earlier is that it is ultra quick, no pressing or advanced prep required. Just drain, pat dry and measure out 12 ounces of tofu. And then you're gonna grab a box grater and you're gonna take the side with the large holes and you're just gonna start grating the tofu. The nice thing about grating tofu is
0:45 that you get these tiny shreds, so you have a lot of surface area relative to the volume of the tofu. And that means two things. One, it's gonna crisp up quickly in the pan, and two, it's going to absorb every bit of flavor from our sauce. Now, inevitably, even with super firm tofu, you're gonna have some pieces that break off that you're not gonna be able to grate, totally fine. Just take your knife and slice them as thinly as you can. And voila, you have a pile of grated tofu that honestly kinda looks like grated mozzarella. The only other prep required for this recipe is to slice a few aromatics. We've got four scallions, three garlic cloves, and a couple spicy Thai red chilies. For the scallions, go ahead and slice up any of the bruised tops and then just thinly slice them on a bias.
1:32 (bright music) For the garlic, we'll give this a thin slice. I don't wanna mince it up and have it burn in the pan. As y'all probably know, I love things spicy. So I've got two bird's eye chilies or Thai chilies. I'm gonna thinly slice these up. If you cannot handle heat, you can omit them or just use like half of a jalapeno. If you love, love, love spicy foods, you could probably go for three or four. That is all the prep required. So let's get started on cooking. So you wanna get a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. You can use a cast iron or a carbon steel skillet, but it has to be well seasoned, otherwise the tofu will stick. So I've got one and a half tablespoons of oil heating up, any neutral oil is fine. And once it starts shimmering, we can go ahead and add our aromatics.
2:17 And this mixture just needs about two minutes to help the aromatic stop in, starting to smell spicy. Once you start to see just a little bit of color on the garlic, it's time to add the tofu, toss the tofu to make sure it's coated in the oil, and then spread it out as much as you can. It'll be a packed layer, but as evenly as you can. And the goal of this technique is to allow the tofu to crisp up and get browned a bit. You actually don't wanna stir very frequently, just every two minutes, which is great 'cause that gives us plenty of time to work on our sauce. Chili peppers have been activated. The third part of this technique is to pair the pan fried grated tofu with a super flavorful sauce because these shreds are just primed and ready for something really delicious and flavorful.
3:03 The sauce has only five ingredients, but it tastes like it has this really rich developed flavor. And that's because we've got some very heavy hitting ingredients from Asian cooking. We're gonna start with three tablespoons of soy sauce. This is Chinese light soy sauce, but you could easily use Japanese soy sauce or tamari, a tablespoon of Chinese black vinegar. This stuff has been fermented for at least six months, so it's got a really funky, complex flavor and it's malty and acidic, but a little sweet, a little bit of umami, really, really delicious. And we're using a tablespoon of that. Toasted sesame oil for that rich nuttiness. It's gonna compliment the salty savoriness of the soy sauce
3:48 and a tablespoon of gochugaru. This is a Korean chili flake. A tablespoon sounds like a lot, but it's a mild chili flake. If you want something spicier, you could use Sichuan chili flakes. And if you are very sensitive to spicy food and you didn't include those chili peppers, this will add just a kick. So I think most people are fine with it. And just a little bit of sugar. You only need a teaspoon. You could also use maple syrup, and this is going to round out all the flavors, enhance the savory saltiness, and just kind of make everything taste better. Sauce complete. Super simple. You can see how golden brown most of the tofu is. If you were to try a piece right now, it would be unseasoned, but it would be crisp and chewy at the same time. That's what you're looking for. I'd say for most stoves, that's gonna take 10
4:33 to 14 minutes total, time to pour in the sauce. Love the sizzle and the sauce just needs a minute to coat the tofu and work its magic. Smells fantastic. Now that this is off the heat, I'm gonna stir in one tablespoon of roasted sesame seeds. The subtle crunch is just going to enhance the chewiness and the slight crisp of the tofu. (upbeat music) To finish things off, I like to add a little bit of chopped cilantro and those scallion greens from earlier for some freshness. It's so pretty, it smells even better. I'm so excited. The texture is unreal.
5:19 You would be hard pressed to believe this is tofu and the flavor is just perfect. The only problem is it's not a complete meal on its own. So I'm gonna show you two ways you can use this in easy weeknight dinners. First way I like to serve this grated tofu is with rice and some sort of green vegetable. Since it's summer, we're gonna make a smashed cucumber salad using these adorable Persian cucumbers. I like to get started by cooking some jasmine rice. I'm using my Instant Pot to keep things simple, but feel free to use whatever method you prefer. While that's going, we can work on smashing our cucumbers, smashing them creates lots of nooks and crannies, so the sauce has something to latch onto. Instead of just sliding the cucumbers. Save this for a day when you need to get a lot of stress out. Once they're smashed, just break them up
6:04 with your hands into bite-sized pieces about one to two inches in size, and then we'll hit the cuces with a bit of salt, give them a quick massage, and then transfer to a colander set over a bowl. This step will draw out some of the excess moisture, which will make the flavor more concentrated. But if you are in a rush, feel free to skip it. In the meantime, we'll make a simple dressing for our Chinese smashed cucumber salad. And I like to start with some chili crisp. I am partial to my homemade version, but there are tons of delicious store bought versions. We're also gonna add in some soy sauce, genian vinegar, AKA Chinese black vinegar, toasted sesame oil, a little bit of sugar just to round out the flavors and some grated fresh garlic. I like to chop up a bit of cilantro just for a bit of freshness.
6:51 And then we'll toss the smashed cucumbers with the dressing. And I like to add a sprinkling of roasted sesame seeds for crunch. You could also do some roasted peanuts. As for the rice, plain white rice or brown rice is totally fine, but if you wanna jazz things up a little bit, fold in some chopped cilantro and some more roasted sesame seeds. Serve everything with these super savory grated tofu for a simple yet big flavor meal. This is wildly delicious. The flavor of the Chinese smashed cucumber salad goes so well with the tofu, and you've got so many fun textures, crunchy cucumbers, meaty chewy tofu soft rice. It is a textural wonderland. By the way in a moment, I will be sharing where you can get all of the recipes from today's video. But before that, let me show you the second way I like
7:37 to serve this tofu, and it might be even more fun than this one. For lettuce wraps, I like to use sushi rice or short grain rice because it has a high starch content and sticky texture, so it's easy to form and stay intact. While the sushi rice is cooking, we'll make our sauce for the lettuce wraps, which is my version of the classic Vietnamese dipping sauce nước chấm. It's a very simple combination, lots of lime juice, fish sauce, or in my case, vegan fish sauce, agave nectar, and bird's eye chili peppers. For most people at home, I would recommend you wear gloves when you do this, I cannot find my gloves, so I'm gonna be sure to thoroughly wash my hands. (upbeat music) Give everything a whisk and just taste to see if it needs any adjustment.
8:25 Woo! And now a few more toppings for our lettuce wraps. We've got some roasted salted peanuts for a nutty crunch. Fresh Thai basil and mint are gonna add the loveliest best fresh flavor. Just chop 'em up or tear them with your hands. And our sushi rice should be ready right about now. To assemble, you're gonna grab a lettuce leaf, and I like to add an ice cream scoop of the sushi rice, followed by some shredded carrots. Or you can use any crunchy vegetable you like, the super savory grated tofu, some of the dipping sauce, the roasted peanuts, and the fresh herbs. And you're gonna serve these beautiful lettuce wraps with extra sauce on the side for dipping. You can find the recipe for the super savory grated tofu over at nytcooking.com.
9:10 I've left a gift link in the description box below for the lettuce wraps and the smashed cucumber salad, combine that in the description box just written out. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one, bye.
