Tofu and Peanut Marinade/Sauce

My measuring is more or less by eye so not all measurements are completely accurate. I tried my best, so you might need to add some more of the ingredients listed, according to taste.

FREEZE AND THEN THAW YOUR TOFU BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS RECIPE. It’ll absorb the flavor more when you marinade it!

Marinade (you want to marinade the tofu for at least 12 hours before you eat it for max flavor!)

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup peanut butter (I used JIF all natural peanut butter)
• 4 T low sodium tamari or soy sauce
• 2 T sushi vinegar
• 2 teaspoon honey
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (or a dash of cayenne pepper to flavor) ; you can also use a small amount of any small fresh red pepper
• 1/4 cup roasted, crushed peanuts
  
  
•  Optional: Hot chili sauce or fresh red pepper (this is for the sauce, AFTER you fry the tofu!)

* another alternative to the peanut butter and crushed peanuts is to buy chunky peanut butter
* you want the marinade to be somewhat sweet and not TOO spicy

Mixed the water and peanut butter together in a decently sized bowl – make sure the peanut butter dissolves (you can place the mixture into the microwave for a few seconds if it is too difficult for you to dissolve). Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl, EXCEPT the hot chili sauce.

Cut your thawed tofu into ½ inch slices and place them in a container in an alternating fashion. Pour your marinade into the container, making sure it reaches every nook and cranny! 

If your tofu is still a bit frozen (as was in my case because I was pressed for time and didn’t wait for my tofu to completely thaw out), you can place it in the microwave for a minute or two…take it out in 30 second intervals though to make sure it doesn’t get too hot.

Refrigerate your tofu now for 12+ hours and wait for the scrumptiousness!

When you’re ready to eat, preheat your pan on low-medium heat and when it’s warm, place your slices of tofu. Make sure you don’t put too much of your marinade with the tofu – IT WILL BURN. You may cut the slices in half, if you wish (I did so).
Once your tofu is golden, remove it off the pan and on very low heat, pour in some of your marinade. Add the hot sauce or red pepper, to taste. Wait until the sauce uniformly begins to boil (it should become a tad thick and a bit darker). Pour it over your tofu and ENJOY!

You may choose to eat this with noodles, rice or just enjoy it by itself!

*What it’s supposed to taste like: the tofu will be a tad sweet and the sauce will be a bit spicy (if you choose to do so!)

*Improvements for the next time: I will try to dry-fry the tofu to see the difference in taste (continue down for instructions on dry-frying, that I found from another website).**

This recipe was derived from another recipe, which deserves to receive credit: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/saucesandmarinades/r/peanutmarinade.htm

If you try to recreate the recipe from this other website, please let me know how it is compared to mine!

**Dry-frying:

Use a Teflon or well-seasoned cast-iron pan at medium heat on an electric range, low to medium-low on a gas range. Slow cooking is the key to keeping the tofu from sticking to the Teflon and insures that the water has time to evaporate out before the outside is browned. Do NOT use oil. You want to leech all of the moisture out of your tofu, so do not use oil--leave the pan dry. Press the tofu with a spatula to remove water. Place your tofu in the pan leaving room around pieces. You may need to fry a few batches to give it enough room. As the tofu cooks, use a spatula to frequently press down on each piece. You will see the water seeping out and sizzling in the pan. Once the bottom sides are very firm and golden in color, flip the tofu pieces and fry the other side, again frequently pressing each piece with a spatula. When they are golden and firm on both sides, they are done.