Middle East meets Far East in this innovative tofu dish.
Arabic/Japanese fusion cooking? As for marinating tofu in za’atar, we’ve got an unusual za’atar pesto recipe that fuses the Middle Easts’ favorite herb with Italian cuisine, so why not? The recipe was adapted from the Tofu for Two blog, using a modified version of our muhamarrah sauce recipe.
Za’atar-Flavored Tofu
Ingredients:
1 lb. – 500 grams tofu, thinly sliced and pressed to expell excess water.
For the marinade:
3 teaspoons za’atar
1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
1-1/2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon harissa or other hot sauce
1 big clove garlic, mashed
For the roasted red pepper/yogurt sauce:
2 whole roasted red peppers (preferably packed in oil), coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, mashed with 1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
- Mix the marinade ingredients.
- Cut the tofu in strips. Layer the tofu and marinade in a container. Close the lid of the container and shake to ensure the tofu is well saturated with the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.
- Remove tofu from marinade. Fry in a little oil until golden.
- Mix roasted pepper sauce with the yogurt.
- Serve the tofu over brown rice or couscous, with muhamarra/yogurt sauce.
More Middle-Eastern delights from Green Prophet’s kitchen:
Image, via Tofu for Two
Miriam also writes a food blog.
Author: Miriam Kresh
Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
This is very good. I have made only the tofu, not the sauce. Both times, I cooked the tofu over low heat on a gas grill and had delicious results. Thank you for the recipe.