At a family Lunar New Year celebration this year, I sampled a tofu dish that somehow stood out from the feast's many delicious offerings. This tofu was lightly coated in panko breadcrumbs, pan fried, and served with a refreshing and sharp ginger sauce. I immediately asked for the recipe, which came from Food & Wine Magazine.
When I finally made this recipe, I was really surprised by how quick it can be prepared. I initially made it on a weekend, thinking it would far more time consuming than it was. Despite there being many steps, they each take virtually no time.
I first prepared the sauce, which I modified to be more like the David Chang Momofuko ginger-scallion sauce. I specifically diced 2 scallions (white and green parts); minced ~1tsp of fresh ginger; and eyeballed rice vinegar, salt, and grapeseed oil.
I left the sauce sit on the countertop as I then prepared the tofu. For my first attempt, I sliced the drained and pressed tofu block in half width-wise and in thirds length-wise for 6 pieces. My husband thought that the tofu could have benefited from thinner portions, so the second time I made this dish, I sliced 9 pieces – one-third cuts along both the width and length of the tofu block.
I then lightly whisked an egg in one shallow bowl and tossed less than a cup of breadcrumbs onto a plate. For the second recipe attempt, I added in some sesame seeds, sea salt, and a few dashes of Chinese five spice to the breadcrumbs, all of which added subtle additional flavors to the fried tofu.
After dredging the tofu slices in the egg and then panko, I then immediately placed the slices in a pre-heated (on medium-high heat) nonstick skillet. I cooked the slices for approx. 4 minutes on each side, until the panko was browned to my liking.
I then served the hot tofu over steamed rice, with some sauce drizzled on each slice. Yum! The leftovers were also great, though with a slightly eggier flavor. I think this will be a monthly treat in our house moving forward!
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