Our son, Robert, made a wonderful bowl of miso soup with braised tofu from scratch the other day. No recipe. No prior thought given to how to make it. He just did it and it was amazing. I’ve tried to reconstruct it from memory and think I got fairly close. I grill the tofu rather than braise it in a pan. I like the grill marks and the slightly charred flavor. I hope you will too!
Ingredients:
12 to 14 ounce block firm tofu
1 cup hot water + 5 cups water
10 tablespoons white miso paste
2 green onions (sliced)
3 ounces shiitake mushrooms (trimmed)
1 medium carrot (sliced thin)
2 cloves garlic (peeled and sliced thin)
½ teaspoon ground ginger
4 large eggs – poached (optional)
Crushed red pepper flakes (as a condiment at the table)
Directions:
Preheat grill to high heat (about 550 degrees). Spray or wipe grill with vegetable oil to keep tofu from sticking.
Remove tofu from container and rinse under cold water. Slice in half horizontally. Place slices on paper towels, cover with more towels and put something heavy on top to help absorb excess moisture. I place a cutting board on top with a couple of cans of crushed tomatoes on top of that for weight. Let sit for 20 minutes so towels absorb as much moisture as possible.
Remove tofu slices from towels. Grill tofu for five minutes per side. You should have nice grill marks by now. Remove from grill and cut each slice into quarters. You should have eight square slices of grilled tofu (two for each bowl). Set aside.
Add miso paste to a medium bowl with 1 cup hot water. Whisk to mix thoroughly. Set aside.
Add green onions, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, ginger, and tofu to a medium sauce pan along with five cups of water. Cook on medium heat for seven minutes. Remove from heat and add miso mixture. Stir to combine.
Spoon soup into 4 bowls. Add poached egg to the top of each bowl (if using). Bring bowls to the table along with crushed red pepper flakes on the side.
Chef Randy’s latest book: Ojai Valley Quarantine Cookbook Now available on Amazon!
For additional recipes, see Chef Randy’s website at valley-vegetarian.com.
Chef Randy has been a vegetarian for over 40 years and eats local and organic grain, fresh fruit, and vegetables as much as possible. He is known locally as the “Healthy Chef.” His column, Chef Randy, is syndicated in California newspapers. See his website at Valley-Vegetarian.com for more recipes.
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