This Can't Be Tofu! (19 page)
Read This Can't Be Tofu! Online
Authors: Deborah Madison
PASTA (AND NOODLES),
the universal food, is at home with tofu as it is with other foods, whether you’re pairing tofu with spaghetti, mung bean threads or buckwheat
pasta, or whether you’re using ginger, chile, and soy, or sour cream and dill as seasonings and sauces.
Chilled
soba
and tofu have already met in the salad chapter, where they mingle with soy, ginger, and dark-roasted sesame oil. In a more discrete fashion, many of the tofu-based sauces can be used to coat a macaroni salad or salads based on somen or
udon
noodles. However, most of my pasta-tofu combinations are warm dishes and none of them feature tofu as a replacement for mozzarella or ricotta cheese. Instead, I’ve tried to feature tofu as itself, although recipes involving chicken and fish have proved more than once to be worthwhile as springboards.
There’s no one best way of using tofu with pasta or noodles. It needn’t be fried first, although sometimes it works best that way. It needn’t always be cut into large pieces. The
Seared Mushrooms with Tiny Cubes of Tofu
makes the most delicious filling for
wonton
wrappers, an intriguing mixture that can also be tossed with thin Chinese egg noodles. Thicker Chinese egg noodles are feature with glazed tofu and a peanut sauce. Curly American egg noodles make a tender bed for a sauce of tofu, sour cream, and paprika, while lo mein noodles drink up the tamarind-laced sauce that accompanies
sautéed Mushrooms and Tofu
. Although I haven’t called for them, I think saffron noodles would make a rather interesting base for any of the tofu curries, especially those involving coconut milk. No doubt there’s a type of pasta or noodle for virtually every tofu dish, even those where rice has been suggested as an accompaniment.
and Tofu in Paprika Cream over Egg Noodles
.
Let the sour cream come to room temperature.
Dice the tofu into ½-inch cubes. Set a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and brush lightly with oil. Add the tofu and cook until golden on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn to brown the other sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then remove to a dish.
Add the oil and butter to the pan. When it foams, add the onion and mushrooms, squeezing the lemon over the mushrooms so that they keep their color. Cook until the mushrooms are browned and the onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the tofu and gently mix together.
Sprinkle over the flour and paprika, then season with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. Turn the mixture to incorporate the flour, and add the wine, let it bubble up, then reduce until syrupy. Add the water, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Check once or twice to make sure there’s enough liquid to make a little sauce. If not, add more water or stock as needed. Taste for salt. Cook the egg noodles until al dente, then drain and place on a warmed platter.
Rewarm the sauce, if necessary, then turn off the heat, add the fresh herb and stir in the sour cream. Pour over the egg noodles and serve.
Tortellini with Light Tarragon Cream Sauce
.
•
Prepare the filling and spread it on a plate and refrigerate until completely cool.
Place a wonton wrapper on the counter, put 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center, brush the edges with water, then fold, corner to corner, to make a triangle. Press the edges to make sure they’re sealed. Take the two ends of the triangle and fold them so that one end rests on the other end. Seal with another drop of water. Set them on a sheet pan dusted with rice flour or on nonstick pastry paper.
Simmer the half-and-half in a wide skillet with the remaining ingredients for 5 minutes. Season with a few pinches of salt and black pepper. Meanwhile, simmer the tortellini in salted, simmering water for 2 minutes, or until tender, then remove with a strainer and set them in the sauce. Shuffle the pan back and forth so that the sauce washes over the pasta. Continue to cook a little longer if the sauce is still on the thin side. Place on heated plates, pour the sauce and cabbage over each plate, then serve, adding a little ground pepper to each plate.
Simmer the tofu for 2 minutes in salted water, then set on paper toweling to dry while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Combine the sugar, water, mushroom soy sauce, and salt in a cup and set aside. Chop the garlic, tarragon, and pepper to make a coarse paste or mixture.
Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 10 inch skillet. When hot, add the garlic-tarragon-pepper mixture and cook for about 30 seconds. Immediately add the mushrooms, give them a stir, then sauté until they’re well browned and their juices have been released then reabsorbed, about 7 minutes. Scrape them into a bowl.
Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and add the tofu. Cook over medium-high heat, shaking the pan every few minutes, until the cubes are golden. Return the mushrooms to the pan and add the shallots.
Add the reserved liquid to the pan and stir rapidly, cooking until everything is well mixed and still moist. Remove from the heat. Taste for salt and pepper.
.
, cut into strips about ½ inch wide and ¼ inch thick
Bring 4 quarts water to a boil for the pasta. Open the package and fluff the strands of noodles with your fingers. While the water is heating, prepare the tofu, the peanut sauce, and the garnishes.
Add the noodles to the water, give it a stir, and cook until tender but not mushy. Check the package instructions. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water, then drain the noodles and rinse with
hot
water.
Immediately put the pasta in a wide skillet along with the tofu. Thin the sauce with the reserved water, pour it over the noodles, and toss repeatedly with two forks. Add most of the scallions and cilantro and toss again. Divide among heated bowls and garnish with the remaining scallions and cilantro.