Fried Tofu from T & T Market

Craving fulfilled. 5 out of 7 nights last week I ate fried tofu (alongside a variety of vegetables and rices) from the T & T Market down on Cherry Street. I could visit the SUPERmarket once every six months to stack up on large bags of basmati rice, canned curries, jars of pickled vegetables but I get a bit repelled from Asian markets for a number of reasons: the neon lights; the abundance of barely live fish in cloudy tanks; the total overpackaging that happens with all Asian goods - cellophane under saran over top individually plastic sealed nests of noodles; the plethora of things I only enjoy a few times of year anyway - seaweed salad, dimsum, sushi. In all of my local green grocers and health bulk stores, regular tofu is the only option. Fried tofu is preferable over plain tofu because: it keeps much longer before turning rancid; it is firmer and saltier than even the most firm plain tofu; men like it (and most men cannot stand tofu).

A typical tofu dinner for me includes:

brown basmati rice steamed separately

a starter of chopped garlic and ginger and vegetable oil (I use a blend of canola/oil)

any kind of vegetable diced or sliced or cubed (broccoli florets, green beans, carrot slices, snow peas, fresh peas, bok choy, swiss chard, rapini, cabbage, zucchini)

a hunk of fried tofu cubed

a handful of chopped raw almonds or cashews

a sprinkle of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes

Put the rice in a bowl, top with the vegetable mix, season with lemon juice and a dollop of Indian jalapeno or hot mango chutney. Add soya sauce or tamari to taste.

Comments

[Mats Flemstrom]

"Men don't like tofu" ? I would expand that a bit to include "most men & women" don't see the attraction of tofu. I mean, tofu is bean curd; it seems completely neutral to me. I realize that soya beans are high in protein, but so what? Many foods are. Bean curd can be made to taste like almost anything.
Why not just eat the foods that tofu is flavoured to taste like?