The Return of the Pickle Rice: Marinated Tofu and Vegetables.
For regular readers, at first glance, this post might seem like a cheap ditto. But it's actually not, and in fact, if you made the first recipe, you've probably been eyeing the remainder of that jar of Black Bean Garlic sauce that I encouraged you to purchase, thinking: "Great, what the heck am I going to do with the rest of this stuff?"
Well. Let me help you with that.
The last time we used black bean garlic sauce, I told you to simply spoon it into the frying tofu and vegetables. Doing so produced a thick, dark and caramelized syrup that coated the surface of your tofu, such that when you actually bit into it, the inside was still white.
This time, by marinating the tofu, you'll create an end product that is completely infused with flavor -- it's going to be intense(ly awesome). And if you're still learning how to cook tofu, especially if you're having problems with your tofu drying out, this recipe will give you a bit of extra wiggle-room.
I chose to slice my tofu into large chunks -- larger-than-bite size, approximately the size of two bites. I did so not only for aesthetic reasons -- additionally, I knew that when I put a larger hunk of tofu in my skillet later, I'd reduce the likelihood of steaming out all of the marinade. For this particular recipe, I used a full 200 g for two servings.
In a medium-sized bowl (a soup bowl, an extra-large cereal bowl...) mix 4 tablespoons of the black bean garlic sauce with 1/2 to 1 cup of water. You'll want for the tofu pieces to be covered when you mix them into the marinade. Cover, and plan to let it stand for at least three hours. In this particular instance, "at least three" is not actually code for "up to twenty-four." If you put your tofu in the marinade before you go to work in the morning, you'll be okay come dinner time. Longer, though, and I'm betting your colleagues probably won't want to be anywhere near you the next day. No, but seriously, the flavor after twenty-four hours is more than even I find enjoyable, and I really love garlic.
If you're American, you'll shudder when you read this: I like to leave my marinating tofu out on the counter. Calm down. It's not "going to go bad." If you buy packaged tofu in the refrigerator section, your tofu has been pasteurized.* That said, if you buy yours in bulk (I seriously doubt that you do), it hasn't been, and in that instance, refrigeration is a bit more important. Anyway -- I would feel safe leaving mine on the counter for three hours. If you're leaving yours for the duration of your workday, go ahead and put it in the refrigerator.
*Should you ever happen to have leftover tofu -- i.e., when you have 200 g and use only 100 g in a recipe -- you can store the unused portion in an airtight container with enough clean water to cover it completely. You'll want to change the water every day -- you can do this for up to a week.
So why is the black bean garlic sauce making a repeat appearance? Well. The glorious occasion again came upon our household last Friday, when tin ate the last pickle out of a large glass, leaving behind a cup of "pickle juice" just begging to be consumed. Pleased to oblige, we got out our stash of white basmati rice and, again, prepared a pot of Pickle Rice. Though in the last recipe, we prepared our rice using only pickle juice, this time, I brought one cup of uncooked rice together with one cup of pickle juice and one cup of water to a boil, covered, and simmered until all of the liquid had been absorbed. Why half water/half pickle juice, you ask? "I thought you loved pickles!" -- Indeed, I do. If only because I had a mere cup of pickle juice at my disposal, I also knew that this time, there would be two strong flavors competing for center stage, and thus, I was okay with letting the pickle juice play the supporting role to the marinade.
I wanted to use relatively "sturdy" vegetables with semi-sweet flavor to bring out the slightly sugary overtones of the black beans, to round out the sharp vinegary flavor of the rice and the bite of the garlic. I still had leftover fresh parsley from the night before -- wanting to use it before it got limp, I consulted my root bowl for worthy teammates.
I couldn't have planned it better, for there in my pantry closet were not only purple carrots, but root parsley. Root parsley looks like a parsnip, but tastes primarily -- obviously -- like parsley. When cooked, though, root parsley, like the parsnip, becomes semi-sweet.
I peeled and chopped three purple carrots and two parsley roots. I put them a deep covered skillet along with the tofu and ALL of the marinade in the bowl. I allowed it to simmer until the vegetables were soft. Root parsley softens pretty quickly. I also chose to add two dried chili peppers for a bit of extra heat -- if you don't have dried chili peppers, you can use red pepper flakes.
The tofu is not going to look as "done" as it has in the past. In fact, it's going to look a little raw. That's because it will be. In fact, you likely had significantly less marinade in the bowl than you did when you started, and that's because the tofu absorbed it, becoming, in essence, "waterlogged." Your goal is to heat up the tofu but not to allow it to dry out -- thus, keep an eye on the moisture level in the skillet, and stir occasionally to make sure that none of the pieces of tofu spend too long in direct contact with the heat. If you notice that too much of the liquid is starting to disappear, simply add a little bit of water. You'll want to have a little bit of a "sauce" to ladle out over the rice.
I topped a serving of rice with the tofu and vegetables -- along with a cool beer, a drizzle of soy sauce was just the right finishing touch to this Chinese-inspired meal. And we didn't even have to tip the delivery guy.
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