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Grilled Tofu

Posting Date: 08/04/16

Grilled Tofu is delicious and could even make tofu haters eat and enjoy it. I grew up eating tofu because many Indonesian dishes used it in the ingredients. So, I love tofu and want to make people like it, too. I know some people hate it. One of the reasons they told me was it was not meat. Well, I cannot help them there. It is a fact that tofu is not meat. The other reason is because it tastes bland to them. This one I definitely can change their perception. One of the reasons tofu is bland is because it consists of liquid. If you remove it, it will taste better when you stir fry or cook it. It will absorb the seasoning better when you remove the liquid. Another reason is because it needs to be seasoned properly. That's why this grilled tofu recipe is perfect because it is marinated in the seasoning for at least 2 hours before grilling it. After marinating it, it is full of flavor and thus, people, meat lovers and vegetarians alike, love it.

I describe in the method section on how to prepare tofu prior to marinating it. This preparation will remove as much liquid in the tofu. Please follow the directions.

This recipe serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz firm tofu
For marinade: 1/4 cup soy sauce
For marinade: 1/4 cup maple syrup
For marinade: 2 tablespoons lemon juice
For marinade: 1 tablespoon sesame oil
For marinade: 1/4 teaspoon pepper
For marinade: 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
For marinade: 1/4 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
For marinade: 1/4 teaspoon paprika
For grilling: vegetable oil
Optional: 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Optional: 1 green onion, sliced the green part only or 1 tablespoon sliced chives

Methods:

Prepare tofu by draining, rinsing, and patting it dry with paper towel. After that, place it on top of strainer and place a container on top of the tofu. Leave it for 15 min or so. The weight of the container on top of the tofu will further drain more liquid off from the tofu. You can leave it longer than 15 min if you have more time and more liquid will be drawn out of it. After that, pat the tofu dry with paper towel and slice it lengthwise into 1" thick.
Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk it. Pour it into ziploc bag. Put tofu inside the ziploc bag. Make sure all slices are coated with the marinade. Press the air out from the bag and close it. By pressing the air out, the marinade will coat the tofu slices. Leave the tofu in fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. I normally marinate it for 24 hours.
Take the tofu out of ziploc bag and brush the tofu with vegetable oil. Split the marinade into 2. One will be used for dipping and the other will be used to brush the tofu during grilling. Turn on the grill and brush the grill grates with vegetable oil. Gril the tofu. During grilling, brush it with the marinade sauce. Once one side is brown (about 6-7 min), turn it over to grill the other side. Do not turn over the tofu before it is brown. Otherwise, you may break it because it may stick to the grill. Once both sides are brown, take it out of the grill and turn off the grill.
Heat up the stove and put the other half of marinade sauce in a small pot. Heat the sauce until is boiling. Once boiling, turn it off. Pour it on a small bowl.
Sprinkle sesame seeds and sliced green onion or chives on top of tofu. Sprinkle dipping sauce with sesame seeds. Serve tofu with dipping sauce.

Notes:

Prepare tofu by draining, rinsing, and patting it dry with paper towel. After that, place it on top of strainer and place a container on top of the tofu. Leave it for 15 min or so. The weight of the container on top of the tofu will further drain more liquid off from the tofu. You can leave it longer than 15 min if you have more time and more liquid will be drawn out of it. After that, pat the tofu dry with paper towel and slice it lengthwise into 1" thick.
If you don't have outdoor BBQ grill, you can grill it on a grill pan on the stove. Make sure you brush the pan with vegetable oil before turning on the heat on the stove. This will prevent tofu from sticking. Use high heat to grill the tofu and keep an eye during grilling to make sure you don't burn the tofu. As soon as the bottom side is brown, turn it over to grill the other side.

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