Rice Paper Rolls with Tamari Marinated Tofu.
Confession - I had never cooked tofu until about 2 weeks ago when I suddenly found myself bored, with a 3000 word essay to write (thus a great need to procrastinate), hungry and feeling somewhat adventurous. I should probably also mention that until about a year ago I had a huge, deep, pathological fear of tofu. This probably sounds really stupid, and to be honest in hindsight it completely is, but as a child and oblivious teenager nobody could ever accurately tell me what exactly was in tofu and, having a fear of the unknown, tofu was added to the list of weird and scary things. Since becoming a vegetarian, and later a vegan, I've become increasingly open to new things in the food that I eat and cook and, after two trips to Asia in the past 8 months, slightly more experienced consumer of tofu. But, there's tofu and then there's good tofu and the two are very, very different in taste, with the latter being downright delicious. The trick to the perfect tofu is that you have to;
1. Dry it out well.
2. Marinate it for at least a day, even two.
3. Cook it with a cornflower coating in a little bit of sesame oil.
Without following these steps, you'll inevitable end up with a non-crispy, tasteless and soggy mess, which sounds gross and also tastes gross (I know courtesy of a small kitchen disaster). But, lucky for you it was I that made the disaster in the kitchen and you get to reap the benefits of the lesson learnt when messing up!
In case you too are unsure of what the heck tofu actually is, it's basically just coagulated soy milk pressed into soft white blocks and is also known as bean curd. It originated in China and is over 2,000 years old (that's real old just in case you were unsure). Nutrition wise, tofu has a low calorie count and is high in protein and iron (yay for vego/vegan iron!!). Tofu is also proven to low cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. When making a dish with tofu, and a whole heap of fresh, raw vegetables, you basically end up with a delicious, relatively easy to prepare, super healthy, and mega yum dish. Winning.
Ingredients;
(makes 6 rolls)
125gm tofu
4 tbsp tamari (or reduced salt soy sauce - but use tamari if you're gluten intolerant)
Approx. 4 tbsp cornflower
2 tbsp sesame oil
9 pieces rice paper (three of them snapped in half)
1 cup finely chopped green cabbage
2 spring onions (shallots)
1/2 carrot (grated or cut into thin strips using a julienne peeler)
1 cup bean shoots
1/4 red capsicum
Handful fresh mint leaves
Handful fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
Handful snow pea shoots
1. Remove the tofu from the packaging. Use a sharp knife to slice the tofu into pieces approx. 0.5cm thick and 2cm wide - at least 6 pieces. Take a plate and lay some absorbent paper towel on the plate. Lay the pieces of tofu onto the towel and cover with another piece of absorbent towel. Place this in the fridge for about two hours with something heavy sitting on the top (i.e. a skillet or bottle of milk, etc.). Using something heavy is important in helping to drain the tofu of any excess water which will inevitably be stored in the tofu from its packaging. Soggy tofu will never go crispy and will not absorb flavour as well as properly drained tofu.
2. After two hours retrieve the tofu from under previously mentioned heavy object. Grab a container that has a lid and lay the tofu strips into the container, then pour the tamari over the top. Depending on how large your container is you may need more tamari, because you should use enough to cover all the pieces so that they all absorb some of the sauce. Place the lid on and put the container in the fridge for at least one day, although I would recommend two days.
3. When the tofu has properly marinated, remove it from the fridge. On a chopping board, sprinkle the cornflower generously. Taking one strip of tofu at a time, cover it well in the cornflower, before gently dusting off any excess. Repeat for all the strips.
4. Take a fry pan and place it over the heat. You want quite a hot pan, so turn the heat towards the higher end of the spectrum. Pour approx. 2 tbsp sesame oil into the pan and allow to heat. To check whether the pan is hot enough, flick some water into the pan and if the water sizzles and spits, then you're good to go! Do not use olive oil as it doesn't handle such hot temperatures as well as sesame oil (coconut oil is also another option that will work well, although you will end up with quite a different flavour). Carefully place all of the strips into the pan and cook for a minute or two on each side until they are a light golden brown. When cooked, remove from the heat and place on a new sheet of absorbent towel to remove any excess oil.
5. Take the cabbage, shallots, capsicum and snow pea shoots and chop them up into thin strips/smaller pieces/down in length so that they will fit in a roll that is approx. 10cm long. Lay them out on a chopping board along with the carrot, bean shoots and fresh herbs so that you have an organised assembly line.
6. Take a sheet of rice paper and wet it in a bowel of cold water for a minute or so (or according to packet instructions). Carefully shake away any excess water and lay out on another chopping board. Repeat for one of the half sheets and then lay that half sheet down the middle of the full sheet, thus reinforcing the main sheet. Then, lay down a piece of tofu, and a selection of fresh veggies. To roll the finish roll, take the top side and fold it over the filling as far as possible. Then fold in each of the sides and finally the bottom piece, carefully picking up and tilting the roll back in on itself to get a tighter roll. Lay on a tray with a damp piece of paper towel underneath to prevent them from drying out. Repeat for all 6 rolls.
7. Serve with some sweet chilli sauce or a peanut dipping sauce (pure peanut butter and some water to desired consistency). Then, devour these bad boys with such gusto that you would scare off any would be food thief cause these are too good to share!!!
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