Baked Barbecue Hoisin Tofu and Recipe for Homemade Hoisin Sauce

 

Our Class '65 of St. James Academy, Malabon went on a trip to Tuguegarao as one of several activities to celebrate our Golden Jubilee. We were served this wonderful array of grilled and fried assortment of meat and seafood (shown below) arranged beautifully on a bed of green banana leaves by our wonderful hosts Myrna and Bob Guzman at their beautiful Las Palmas Hotel in Tuguegarao. Chopped fresh green mangoes and an eggplant salad completed the assorted plate. Gorgeous and delicious.



Clockwise from the top, roast pork belly, barbecue pork on skewers, fried fish, fried shrimp, green mangoes, fried fish and barbecue chicken on skewers. In the center is an eggplant salad.

I would love to prepare a similar assortment of grilled and fried foods for one of my future parties and I thought that including barbecued tofu would be a good addition to the mix. It would accommodate the vegans and vegetarians among my guests.

This recipe for barbecued tofu is adapted from the one I found online. It uses hoisin sauce as a main ingredient in the marinade. It required the use of a grill but it was still not quite summer yet in Pittsburgh at this time. I thought of pan frying but I did not feel like going through the hustle of standing in front of a hot stove plus I wanted to avoid using oil to cut calories. So I resorted to baking.

I was able to leisurely watch "The Voice" show I recorded on my DVD while waiting for the tofu to finish baking. The resulting baked barbecue hoisin tofu was deliciously coated with the amazing marinade. Most importantly, the texture of the tofu was close to the other methods of grilling or pan frying. Draining or pressing the water of the firm tofu helped in attaining this highly desirable result.

I understand that some of you have to follow stringent nutritional requirements and are wary of using store bought hoisin sauce so I am including the recipe of homemade hoisin sauce from CDKitchen. You can tweak or adapt it to your specific needs.   A friend of mine prefers making her own half cup called for in this recipe rather than buy a bottle of hoisin which she might use only once. 

This recipe is really good even my picky 20 month old granddaughter, Maddie, ate this tofu and so did her picky daddy, Matt.  Really amazingly delicious you would not think it is actually healthy.

  

Baked Barbecue Hoisin Tofu

(Adapted from this About Food site)

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed or well drained (see note 1)
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce (store bought or use the recipe for homemade hoisin sauce provided below)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp lime juice from bottle or fresh limes
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 

Press or drain your tofu first for best results.  See note 1 for two methods you can choose from.

Carefully slice the drained tofu into the size and shape, depending on what method of cooking you are using to cook it and also for what purpose.  If you are grilling it is best to slice it into 1-inch thick cubes or strips.  If you are placing them in skewers, cubes are better.  I wanted to make the barbecue tofu for an appetizer and I am baking them in a pan rather than grilling so I can get away with thinner slices.  My tofu came in four smaller blocks rather than one large one.  I cut each block of tofu into 1/2 inch thickness and then cut each square or rectangle diagonally and then once again diagonally to get four triangles per square or rectangle.

Whisk together all the ingredients except the tofu in a bowl.  Transfer the marinade in a shallow dish or a Ziplock bag.  Carefully place the cut tofu in the marinade making sure it is covered with the marinade.  Marinate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F,

Cover a cookie pan with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. Place the tofu pieces on the pan 1 inch apart.  Bake for 20-25 minutes (30 minutes for thicker pieces) turning it over halfway through the baking time.  I actually did not baste it during the whole baking time but you can using the leftover marinade.  I froze any leftover marinade for future use.

 Notes: 

1.  You can use either of the two methods below for draining or pressing the tofu:

a)  First method of pressing the tofu can be found on this site. 

b) Second method uses less paper towels which I find to be a waste.

•  Use a plastic steamer with holes or a colander and position it on top of a bowl which can catch the water.   
• Place the tofu on top of the steamer or colander and cover with a folded piece of paper towel.  
• Use a can or cans or any weight for that matter on top of the paper towel.  Drain for about two to three hours.   

Homemade Hoisin Sauce

(From CDKitchen)

(Makes 1/2 cup)

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter or black bean paste
• 1 tablespoon honey or molasses or brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 20 drops chinese hot sauce, habenero or jalepeno
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together.   At first it does not appear to be mixing together, keep at it and whisk a bit longer.