Tofu with peanut sauce

Peanut sauce inspired by this recipe from Daily Garnish.  I use peanut butter instead of peanut flour, but everything else works out pretty much the same.

The basics:

• Make peanut sauce.
• Cut a 14-16oz. block of extra firm tofu into cubes (24 cubes, in this case, if you were curious).  Cook tofu separately from other ingredients.  Slow is the key.  (See notes on tofu cooking below.)
• Toss cooked tofu with about half of the peanut sauce.  Reserve remaining sauce for the veggies.
• Prep any veggies you want.  I used carrots, Napa cabbage, and garlic in this dish, plus fresh green onions for topping.  After the tofu came out of the skillet, I tossed the veggies in for a quick stir-fry with a bit of oil and a splash of soy sauce.  Top with remaining peanut sauce.
• Serve over rice or noodles.  For dinner, we ate this over our homemade noodles, dressed up with a bit of sesame oil.

The Tofu

Prior to this meal, I relied on my non-stick pan for perfectly cooked tofu cubes.  With the addition of a 15-inch cast iron skillet, plus some stainless steel pots, we’ve really minimized our reliance on our two remaining non-stick pans.

Still, I originally reached for the big non-stick pan, afraid the tofu would stick too much in the cast iron unless I used TONS of oil.  But what fun is dinner without a little experimentation?

I cooked the tofu in the big cast iron skillet by itself.  I coated my tofu cubes in peanut and canola oil, and also added some of both kinds of oil directly to the skillet.  In the end, I did use a good bit of oil, but it still fell within my acceptable range, and, most importantly, it left me with delicious, crunchy tofu cubes, no sticking, and no chemical-coated pan required!

For an in-depth “Tofu Tutorial,” also courtesy of the Daily Garnish, click here.