Finally it’s Monday again! Today, of course, is tofu day at Casa de la Vida! And we proudly present a delicious and easy way to make a satay. Everyone in the house is sure to love it!
It’s actually funny what you can make with tofu. All kinds of old-fashioned recipes that you are used to cooking with meat can also be cooked with tofu. Especially if you are going to grill the tofu in a grill pan! And because I wanted to make a recipe especially for Mike, I have a tofu ‘chicken’ satay to present today! Because that’s what it’s all about, to be able to make original meat dishes, but with tofu!
I myself am not very fond of chicken as you may know by now, but I am quite fond of peanut sauce, especially my fries. That’s why I thought of grilling marinated tofu and making a delicious satay sauce with it.
It’s really fun to play with tofu in the kitchen and gradually tofu and I have started to become best friends! Of course it would be different with real chicken, but I love to experiment with tofu and present my findings to you! That is why I love to share this recipe with you.
I think there are a lot of people who have problems starting out cooking with tofu. This is of course because you don’t have to press and dry meat first, as you do with tofu. Because what will actually happen if you don’t drain tofu first? It falls apart in the pan. That is why you can also scramble it if something goes wrong with pressing the tofu!
For this recipe I first pressed the tofu and then let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator. After all, once tofu has drained, it will naturally absorb moisture again. But maybe you already knew that! As I said last week, cooking tofu takes some getting used to. But if you have cooked with it a few times and played with it in the kitchen, you will see that you’ll quickly get the hang of it!
And this recipe is for you, Mike. Hopefully you’ll like it. We will definitely enjoy it! If only I could bring you a portion so that you would have a nice lunch, but alas! Soon I’ll make it for you, I promise! Shall we start cooking then?
Ingredients
This recipe is approximately for 4 to 5 tofu bars, so for 2 people. You can choose to make a delicious rice with it. For inspiration, I refer you to my instagram post for a healthy portion of rice!
- a tofu block, drained
- sunflower oil
Marinade
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
- pinch of garlic powder
- pinch of onion powder
- pinch of chili flakes
- pepper
Satay sauce
- 3 tablespoons of peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon of chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- salt and pepper
- 200 ml coconut milk
- a little lemon juice
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- 1 clove of garlic, grated or powder
Preparation
First, drain the tofu well (as described in my previous tofu recipe). Then cut the tofu into somewhat thick slices, about a finger wide. Prepare the marinade by mixing all the ingredients for it in a small bowl. Place the tofu bar in a rectangular dish. Pour the marinade over it and gently turn the bars so that they are completely covered with the marinade on all sides. Place the dish with tofu in marinade in the refrigerator and let it marinate for at least an hour.
Put a pan on the fire and pour in the coconut milk. First add the peanut butter and stir it in well so that it becomes an even mixture. Then add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer gently. Don’t forget to stir every now and then.
Thread the tofu strips on skewers. Meanwhile, heat a grill pan with sunflower oil on high heat. Place the tofu strips in the hot pan and grill for about 5 minutes on each side, until dark and slightly crispy. Do not touch the bars while grilling, otherwise the grill pattern will deform!
Serve the grilled tofu bars on a plate with a little satay sauce and toppings of your choice, such as serundeng and chili flakes. Voilà, tasty satay tofu bars!
The result
This dish was super exciting to make, I can really say that! First, I found it difficult to come up with a marinade for the tofu. After that, I was a little afraid of threading the tofu onto skewers because a block of tofu can break apart very easily. But the taste and texture of the tofu really came out really well and I really give myself a good ten out of ten for making this dish!
My dad was really waiting for us to finish shooting the photos. He kept saying it looked so appetizing to him and that he just wanted to bite it. I said that I really wanted that too, because I really really got really hungry while cooking! As you see, tofu can look very tasty!
And now I certainly have a lot of ideas for the next dishes that I will share with you! For those who have not yet mastered pressing tofu, or those who have done it too hard have have broken the tofu completely, don’t be sad! You’ll be fine and even if something does happen, you can scramble your tofu into a delicious meal. Nothing needs to go to waste!
Happy Monday my friends and see you again on Wednesday!
How do you prefer to prepare your tofu? Do you have a marinade that you always use or a preferred method of preparation? Tell me, because I’m really curious about your ways to make it! Did you make this recipe? Send me the photos and maybe we’ll put them online!
