An Ode to Tofu

So I have always been a meat eater, I love steak, lamb, pork, roasts, any kind of dead animal, other than fish is great to me, and I have always been suspicious of this pressed soybean curd called tofu, but today, I am a convert.

Tofu has been used in Asian cuisine for centuries, probably a millennium or two, and the stuff you get out here is so different from the pressed, processed junk you can purchase at any store in the west.

The tofu here, the big block in the picture, costs about a dollar. It is pressed locally, probably by a farmer deep in the countryside, you can see his brand on it, and sold in the market from a big red tub in which rests kilos of the soft white curd

The flavour of tofu that I have had before coming here is what had always turned me off from it, tasteless and bland. Here, when you cut it, you can smell the beans that the stuff is made from, and when you cut it it forms nice soft chunks that hold their shape through almost any cooking process.

Tofu curry, my current favorite meal.

Ingredients

A couple of tomatoes, cut into chunks

Small onion

A big chunk of cubed tofu

Three cloves of garlic

Turmeric

Salt

Soy Sauce

Curry Powder

Olive oil

Ginger

Eggplant

Cut the onions into chunks, through in some crushed garlic and some crushed ginger into a pan that has a good dollop of oil in it and fry lightly till the onion is translucent, don’t burn it!

Add the tomato, tofu, and eggplant, a dollop of soy sauce, a little salt, some turmeric and curry powder and stir if around on medium high heat for about five-ten minutes, serve over rice.

Serves 2-3