Seared Tofu with Miso Sauce
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 4 servings
- Total: 20 min
- Active: 20 min
Ingredients
For The Tofu
1 pound tofu, drained
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
Soy sauce, to taste, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, or tamari will work
Miso Sauce, recipe follows
Scallions, slivered
Black sesame seeds, toasted, Several pinches
For The Miso Sauce
6 tablespoons white miso
2 teaspoons sugar, Or coconut sugar
1 tablespoon lemon, fresh, Meyer lemon, or Yuzu juice (or more to taste) work as well
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, Mirin
Directions
- Drain the tofu then slice it crosswise into 6 pieces. Heat a cast iron or non-stick skillet. Add the tofu, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat until golden. At first it will twitch around as the water in the tofu turns to steam, but then it will settle down. (Note: Tofu has fat in it so it will brown without adding more oil.) Once the first side is browned, turn and cook the second side, around 10 minutes in all. Shake over a tablespoon or two of your sauce of choice (soy, tamari, Worcestershire), season with salt and pepper to taste, and immediately turn off the heat. You can move to Step 2 while the tofu cooks.
For The Miso Sauce
- While the tofu is cooking, using a small saucepan, mix the miso with the sugar and lemon juice. Cook over low heat and cook while stirring until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly, about a minute. Let it cook, then stir in the lemon zest and vinegar. Taste to make sure the mixture has enough lemon (if using Meyer lemon, you might want to add a little more juice).
- Place the tofu on a plate. Spoon the sauce over the finished tofu and garnish with the scallions and sesame seeds.