Thursday, April 9, 2009

Barefoot Bloggers - Chinese Salad with Baked Tofu


The Barefoot Bloggers made Ina's Chinese Chicken Salad this week, which I converted to Chinese Salad with Baked Tofu. I basically followed the recipe exactly, just swapped out the chicken for tofu. I thought the salad was fantastic. It had asparagus, red bell peppers, and a peanut butter sauce. It was especially delicious with sweet chili glazed tofu.

For the recipe for this yummy salad, please see the very cute blog, Kenzie's Kitchen. http://kenzieskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/bb-chinese-chicken-salad-my-pick.html
I have absolutely fallen in love with baked tofu glazed with sweet chili sauce. It's taken me ages to figure out how to bake tofu so that it tastes as good as the pre-baked stuff you can find in stores. I actually think this tastes better. The texture is lovely as well. Use firm tofu and drain it very well. Press it between some paper towels to get as much liquid out as possible. Slice the tofu into 1/3-inch slices. In a small bowl, mix about 1/3 cup of sweet chili sauce, a few drops of hot sauce, about a teaspoon of tamari or soy sauce, a couple drops of dark sesame oil, a small pinch of salt, and a little bit of oil. Place the tofu in a single layer in a baking dish. Pour the sauce over the tofu, making sure all pieces are covered on both sides. Bake the tofu at a low temperature-about 325F, until the tofu has firmed up and the sauce has formed a glaze. I think it takes about 30 minutes, but it will depend on how much sauce you have and how wet your tofu is. Check the tofu several times during baking, and flip each piece to ensure that both sides get glazed.


The tofu is wonderful plain, or over rice, but my favorite way to eat it is as a sandwich, on some nice crusty bread. It's really lovely!

15 comments:

  1. Baked fufu?

    Not a fan of fufu, but I really loved this salad.

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  2. Glad you liked this one...your tofu looks delicious!

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  3. Chinese chicken salad with tofu sounds wonderful.

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  4. Thank you Jamie and pinkstripes!

    Chocolatechic- I loved the salad, too.

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  5. This looks very good! Yum!

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  6. Wow, your Barefoot Bloggers salad looks absolutely delicious! I love tofu prepared this way, I usually use barbecue or peanut sauce and finish it up by broiling it for the last minute or so. Never thought to try chilli sauce -- which I have two bottles of in the fridge, sounds great :)

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  7. Thanks Cheryl!

    Thanks Andrea! Broiling the tofu is a great idea!

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  8. Your baked tofu recipe sounds great, I'll have to make it! I'm sure it tasted great with the salad.

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  9. Mmm, I love baked tofu. I've never thought to put it in a sandwich like that. Looks delicious! Love your blog!

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  10. Thank you so much Elyse! This is my new favorite sandwich!

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  11. You are wonderful at converting recipes!

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  12. My mouth is watering. I love spices and chilli sauce and I am always looking for ways to spruce up tofu. So will sure be giving this a try.

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  13. Thank you so much mangocheeks!

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