Vegetarian Recipe #1: Tofu BBQ by Nomad Manager
If you hang out with me often or if you read my blog, or at least this entry on Grill Queen’s Tofu BBQ, then you’ll know I love these grilled cubes of soy on a stick.
Because of my fondness for this food and my inclinations to recreate things I feel are feasibly recreate-able, I went ahead and attempted my own version of tofu BBQ.
The weekend before Holy Week, I had attempted this recipe without resorting to frying the tofu before grilling it. And while it was a tasty option of its own, I prefer this fried version, which I served to my family for Easter lunch. Sorry to the anti-fryers. :P
There’s probably a variety of basting sauces you can prepare to suit your taste, but I stuck to:
Basic inihaw marinade/basting sauce
- 1 part soy sauce
- 1 part brown sugar
- calamansi to taste (I’d say about 1 part calamansi for every 3-4 parts of soy sauce)
You’ll also need firm tofu or tokwa, of course. You can cut them up into bigger cubes if you want to retain more of the tofu taste, or smaller if you like your food uber saucy / tasty. I’d say something slightly smaller then 1” cubes are roughly a good size.
Lightly shallow fry, or deep fry them if you wish, but I opted to go for shallow frying so I wouldn’t waste too much oil. Don’t fry them to the point of crispiness though; fry them only until they form a light golden brown skin.
Skewer the fried tofu cubes onto BBQ sticks. Allowing them time to cool first would be advisable unless you have really thick skin.
Baste / soak the tofu with your sauce, put them onto the grill, baste, grill all four sides, baste all four sides.
Then, ENJOY (I hope), either on its own or with your favorite sawsawan mix!
My sister-in-law tried it with a garlic yogurt sauce I made for my tofu fajitas, and it made it taste like a tofu kebab! :P
I kinda tend to be lazy with my measurements (memories of my favorite childhood cook, The Urban Peasant, come to mind), so yeah, there really are no hard and fast rules. So go ahead and tweak the above recipe to make it your own. Send me a message when you do! I’d love to know your take on it. :D
Rock & roll cooking,
Jen
