I made this for the first time when my friend Anne came over for dinner. As I was making it I thought, “wow, what if this doesn’t turn out very good – what else will I serve?” But the verdict was an overwhelming
Super easy and incredibly tasty and healthy – you won’t regret trying this one. I served it over some wild rice.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white mellow miso
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons Mirin (rice cooking wine)
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 package (16 oz) tofu (can use tempeh in place of tofu if you like)
- 4 bags jasmine green tea
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 lemon, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- 1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds
- 1 Tablespoon white sesame seeds (or brown)
- 3 green onions, sliced into fine rounds
1. Prepare the tofu: slice the tofu into 4 cutlets and lay out on a kitchen towel that has been folded several times. Place another folded kitchen towel on top of the tofu and press with your hand until as much water is possible has been removed from the tofu. Place in an 8×8 inch backing dish.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Whisk the miso, maple syrup, Mirin and oil together in a bowl until you have a smooth consistency. Spoon 1/4-inch layer of this glaze on top of the tofu cutlets.
4. Place the tea bags into the bowl with the remaining miso paste and pour the boiling water over the top of the tea bags. Let this brew for 5 minutes. This creates the miso and jasmine green tea.
5. Carefully, ladle this tea into the pan with the tofu. Ladle it to just about halfway up the sides of the tofu. Be careful not to disturb the glaze on top of the tofu.
6. Place a lemon round on each cutlet and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of them.
7. Cover the pan and place in the oven for 30 minutes, then uncover the pan and bake for another 15 minutes (until the glaze looks caramelized).
8. Serve over a bed of wild rice (as I did) and topped with the green onions.
Enjoy-
~ Lita
Adapted by a recipe in the Esalen cookbook. Created by Jason Brodsky in the Esalen kitchen.
