Brother Minh Nguyên (Brother Soars) prefers to make Seaweed Wrapped Tofu with white rice in the winter time. The roasted seaweed wrapped around the tofu in the dish imparts a vegetarian “fish” flavor. Brother Soars’ demonstration of the first recipe at the Happy Kitchen, Happy Me retreat at Magnolia Grove Meditation Practice Center proves that vegan cooking can be flavorful, exciting and simple to prepare. The mouthwatering umami of the Nori wrapped tofu intensifies as it shrinks and absorbs the aromatic mushroom sauce.
To succeed with this dish cut the tofu into domino shapes with lengths that roughly match the width of the strips cut from the sheets of roasted seaweed.
I’ll be mindfully chewing each bite with gratefulness to Brother Soars when I make this Seaweed Wrapped Tofu at home. Stay tuned for other delights from the brothers and sisters of Magnolia Grove Monastery.
Seaweed Wrapped Tofu
Ingredients:
- 12-ounce block of firm tofu, drained and pressed dry
- 10 sheets of Yaki Sushi Nori roasted seaweed
- 3 tsp canola oil, divided
- 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
- 8 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, leaves removed and chopped lengthwise
- 1 chili pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1/3 cup Wan Ja Shan Mushroom Sauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp brown sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Slice block of tofu into quarters along the length of the block through the largest and longest sides. Cut each quarter block into roughly ten domino shapes and set aside.
- Using a pair of kitchen shears, cut each sheet of seaweed into four equal size strips. Tightly wrap one strip of seaweed around each piece of tofu.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet with ~1 tsp of canola oil and place pieces of wrapped tofu into a single layer. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
- While the tofu roasts, heat 2 tsp oil in large skillet. Add onion and stir. When onion begins to soften add stir in garlic, lemongrass and chili pepper.
- When the aromatics soften from cooking, add mushroom sauce, water, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Turn up heat to simmer and stir frequently.
- Remove roasted tofu from oven, pour contents of skillet onto tofu, and gently mix with spatula. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove tofu from oven. Serve tofu with sauce over white rice.
https://placeatthetable.net/2017/03/15/seaweed-wrapped-tofu/
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