Seared Tofu with Miso Sauce

This is so fast and flavorful, you'll have it on the table in minutes and have people raving. There's a second sauce for this same style of tofu that I will try on another occasion. This miso sauce takes only a few minutes to put together and you can do it while the tofu is cooking. Some pretty garnish on top makes it look great, too. I suppose you could also make this with chicken if you wanted.

Take one container of firm tofu, cut it into 6 rectangular pieces, and fry it over medium high heat until golden on one side. Turn over and cook the other side until golden. Add a couple tablespoons of worcestershire or steak sauce. Most of it will cook away and what remains will glaze the tofu.

While the tofu is cooking, mix up the following ingredients in a bowl or food processor: 1/3 cup miso, 2 T. mirin, 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, 1 garlic clove, 1 t. sesame oil, a splash of soy sauce, 2-3 T. mayonnaise, and some salt and pepper. I didn't have enough mirin, so I used water to thin the sauce.

Put the sauce on the tofu pieces and put them under the broiler until the sauce blisters. Add a dollop more sauce and garnish with slivered green onions and slivered red peppers.

I also used a little of the miso sauce in a salad dressing I made up to go with this meal. It was about 1 T. soy sauce, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. miso sauce, 1 t. sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I put grapes in the salad, which I wasn't sure would work with the japanese tasting sauce, but it was great. I also put in the extra scallions and red peppers from the tofu dish, and some pine nuts I had in the freezer. It was yummy.

To round out the meal, I served roasted asparagus. Just drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper over asparagus and stick it in the oven at about 350 for 20 minutes. We took the whole meal out on the patio and enjoyed the first outdoor meal of many for the season. Welcome, spring!

Things I'd do differently next time: Make more tofu. We loved it and could have eaten more.

Approximate cost to prepare:
1 tub firm tofu: $1.20 (Trader Joe's organic)
1 slivered scallion and 1/8 of a red pepper: $.50 (?)
1/3 cup white miso: $1.50 (the whole container cost a little over $4.00 and I used about 1/3 of the container)
2 T. mirin - $.25 (a bottle costs about $3.00)
2 t. fresh ginger - $.25
garlic clove, salt pepper, soy sauce - negligible
1 t. roasted ssesame oil - $.25 (about .80 per ounce at Safeway)
3 T. mayo - $.50 (.17 per ounce)
TOTAL - $4.45 for 2 people and I had a lot of sauce left over.