Recipe for Spicy Asian Tofu Sandwich with Asian Sriracha Coleslaw

A few years ago Kerby Lane Café (Austin) offered on their summer menu an exquisite vegan sandwich. It was scrumptious. I was disappointed to see it taken off the fall menu, so I worked on copying it, and came up with a version that my husband liked even better.  So, I waited for the next round of summer offerings, sure that I would see the sandwich again at Kerby Lane Café It had been extremely popular, even with the non-vegan customers as well as the servers. Finally, this last summer, it reappeared on their seasonal menu.  They had changed the recipe, and I was devastated. The sandwich was flavorless, the bun had been changed to a boringly bland submarine sandwich bun, and the tofu and coleslaw were tasteless. I ordered it once, and that was enough! Thank goodness I had already worked up a recipe that we enjoy -- I'm tempted to offer it to the person who designs the menus, and to the chef at the restaurant. If you make your own ciabatta rolls, you can make them whole wheat, which is even better, but if you're in a hurry, you have to stick with a white flour ciabatta roll. (I'm lazy about making ciabatta -- you have to make the "sponge" a day or two before you make the bread, and I'm always in a hurry to make (and eat) this sandwich!) The preparation of the tofu is a useful recipe for baking tofu for any recipe. The recipe calls for mirin, which is available in the Oriental Foods section of your supermarket.  For Lake Chapala, you can find it at Superlake .If you don't have it at the moment, you can use a substitute (See below recipe.) Sriracha sauce is an Asian Hot Sauce sold everywhere in the U.S. and In Mexico.  Just look for the red sauce with the rooster on the clear plastic bottle in the Asian section.  It's pretty spicy, so if you've never tried it, you may want to taste it before making this recipe. I am not a fan of horribly spicy food, but I love the flavor of a little sriracha.  It really makes this dish! For ciabatta at Lake Chapala, both SuperLake and WalMart sell them.  If you are in Guadalajara, you can find them at Mega, next to Costco across from the Galerias Mall. Unfortunately I haven't found a ready-made whole wheat ciabatta ...yet!

Spicy Asian Tofu Sriracha Slaw Sandwich

Serves 4

Slaw:

·                     1/3 cup mayonnaise

·                     1 – 2 teaspoons sriracha (2 tsp. makes it very spicy, ½ tsp. makes it mild)

·                     1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

·                     fresh ginger, grated

·                     1 tablespoon rice vinegar

·                     2 cups cabbage

Sandwich:

·                     slices of pan-fried or baked soy sauce tofu

·                     4 ciabatta rolls

·                     Slaw (See recipe above.)

Tofu:     (See “Marinated Asian Tofu Recipe” below.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.                   In a bowl whisk together mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon sriracha, salt, ground ginger and rice vinegar. Taste. If you would like it spicier add more sriracha. Stir in cabbage slaw. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2.                   Cook tofu – pan fry with ¼ cup soy and ¼ cup water, or bake (Preferred method: For an even tastier tofu, see Marinated Asian Tofu recipe below.)

3.                   Slice the ciabatta rolls in half and grill/toast. (I use a Panini grill.) Put tofu slices onto the bottom half of a roll, spoon sriracha slaw on top. Top with remaining half of bun. If desired, add extra sriracha sauce.

4.                   For ease of preparing, cut the buns diagonally in half before you add the tofu.  Then place tofu and cut again, matching the diagonal cuts on the ciabatta.  After placing the slaw, and top bun, gently “saw” through the sandwich so everything in the sandwich  separates easily into two pieces.  Place a toothpick or two to hold it nicely together. 

5.                   Serve immediately.

Marinated Asian Tofu

ä       1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed

ä       ½ cup mirin (see possible substitutes below)

ä       3 Tablespoons tamari/soy

ä       2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

ä       1 Tablespoon sesame oil

ä       1 - 2 teaspoons Asian Chili sauce (Sriracha) (2 tsp. makes it pretty spicy!)

ä       1 or 2-inch chunk of ginger, peeled and minced

ä       2 large cloves of garlic, smashed, or very finely minced

Prepare marinade.  Combine all marinade ingredients in a wide shallow bowl.

For Grilled tofu: Cut the tofu widthwise into four equal slices.  Marinate for an hour, flipping over after 30 minutes. Grease a stove-top grill pan (preferably cast-iron) with vegetable oil.  Preheat over a high flame for about 3 minutes.  Use tongs to distribute the tofu slabs evenly onto the grill.  Gently use the tongs to press the tofu into the grill ridges, to get nice dark lines.  Cook for 3 minutes on one side without lifting, then turn the slabs 90 degrees to create a crosshatched pattern on the bottom of the tofu.  Cook for 2 minutes, then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes. 

For baked tofu:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the tofu widthwise into eight equal parts.  Marinate for one hour, flipping after 30 minutes.  Place the tofu on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Flip over and bake for another 10 minutes.  Place in the broiler for about 3 more minutes for extra chewiness.

In a Hurry? – If you have no time to wait for the one-hour marinade, place the tofu slices and marinade mixture in a frying pan.  Fry at  low - medium temperature until it begins to brown a little bit. (The marinade will have evaporated and carmelized/browned  the tofu a bit.)

Subsitute for mirin:

1 tbsp of vinegar and one of sugar (dissolved in the vinegar) for 2 cups of sushi rice.

OR: White grape juice mixed with lemon juice or lemon zest

OR: Try plain rice vinegar, add a bit of sugar, and a bit of apple juice to taste. It should come close to mirin.