Saag Tofu with Misc. Greens

[rushthatspeaks]

1 lb. frozen broccoli
1/2 lb. frozen spinach
1 cup parsley, measured after it has been picked off the stem, washed, and squeezed to get the water out
about 20 fresh sage leaves, also washed and squeezed
12 oz. firm or extra-firm tofu
1 large shallot
1 very large tablespoon powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 scant tsp. paprika
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
more salt

one Cuisinart (really really, trust me)
one large pot
one large skillet
cooking chopsticks or kitchen tongs

You will want to serve this over rice. It will serve 4-6 people.

Cut the tofu into 3/4-inch cubes, pile them all in a bowl, cover them with hot water, stir in a teaspoon of salt, and leave for fifteen minutes.

Dice shallot. I picked the parsley off the stems at this point, which takes forever.

Defrost frozen vegetables by rinsing them under warm water. Set a large pot of water to boiling, and boil the broccoli and spinach for 5-6 minutes, or until wilted, bright green, and reduced in volume significantly.

Drain the tofu and put it on a plate covered in a paper towel to dry.

Put ginger, garlic salt, and shallot into a Cuisinart and blend until it is a paste. You could also use fresh ginger and/or fresh garlic with a little salt, but I haven't shopped lately.

Heat canola oil in large skillet over high heat and then pan-fry the tofu until it is light gold on 3-4 sides of the cubes. Use the chopsticks to turn the pieces over. If it spits at you, turn the heat down. Transfer tofu pieces to a plate lined in different paper towels. Leave the oil in the pan and hot.

Remove shallot paste from Cuisinart. Don't bother washing the Cuisinart. Remove the boiled vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer directly to Cuisinart. Don't worry about getting all the water out of them. Add sage and parsley. Blend into a paste. Consistency will resemble batter, which is correct.

Fry the shallot paste with the cumin and paprika, stirring continuously, for several minutes, until dark brown and very aromatic. Add tofu back in and stir just to combine.

Add the greens paste and at this point we should have put in a teaspoon of salt-- it turned out doing it later was fine, but it would be better here. Beat heavily. Cook until the greens have darkened and reduced slightly, trying to beat out pockets of water as you see them. Taste and add salt if necessary. Sprinkle the top with the lemon juice and beat it in.

Finally, stir in the butter. You really do need butter or something like it to bind it all into an unctuous sauce as opposed to a pile. Uncertain what vegan ingredient would do this. Serve immediately.

I have not had better in a restaurant. The freshness of the parsley counterbalances the darkness of the broccoli, and the sage adds something indefinable but necessary. Could be easily made with paneer cubes if you have them or feel like making them.

Loosely adapted from Andrea Nguyen's cookbook Asian Tofu, Simmered Greens With Fried Tofu, p. 121.

Comments

[ellen_fremedon]

Oooh. I bet Earth Balance soy margarine would work in this; it's generally a pretty effective butter replacement.

Definitely trying this.

[loligo]

As someone adjusting to a new dairy allergy, I use a lot of coconut oil and red palm oil for richness in situations like this. (And duck fat, but that would not be vegan or fit the recipe well.)

[ellen_fremedon]

Ooh, I have both of those in stock. (Also schmaltz, but, as you say, not vegan.)

[rushthatspeaks]

I also have duck fat, which would not work in this case but is just so awesome to have around yay.

I can see the coconut oil and should try it; I've never used red palm oil for anything, what is it like?

[loligo]

It has a pretty distinctive flavor that I'm not really sure how to describe. Sort of vegetal? I started with some recipes that traditionally call for it, like this Brazilian fish stew and now I'm expanding from there.

[rushthatspeaks]

I should try that; that's the soy margarine I usually have access to, and Earth Balance tends to do pretty well at stuff that requires melting.

[jadelennox]

oh, yay! I've just added this to my recipe folder.

[starlady]

This sounds delicious. Question: Is soaking the tofu in the hot salty water to get some of the water out of it?

[rushthatspeaks]

It actually salts it, too, quite significantly. The end result is that it's-- I think the word is fluffier. Not softer, but lighter. Other sauces get in more easily.

[jinian]

I made this with paneer and it was excellent. Love.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I like the sound of this! I have everything, even - my daughter is vegan (mostly - vegetarian with dairy issues). She has used that fake butter but also maybe silken tofu? I wonder how that would work.

I failed more than was successful at frying tofu at first but finally got the hang of it - lots of patience! :)

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I feel as though silken tofu wouldn't disperse the same way into the greens, but I do need to try the fake butter stuff.

Agreed about frying tofu and patience! It took me forever to learn how, but now, finally.

[sovay]

I feel as though silken tofu wouldn't disperse the same way into the greens, but I do need to try the fake butter stuff.

After the fact I wondered about something like coconut oil or coconut cream, provided the flavors didn't clash. (I like coconut a lot and may be biased.)

[sandrylene.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is what I would do. Coconut oil is what I use for all of my Indian food, because I don't like ghee as well, and I don't think it actually lends sufficient coconut flavor to be an issue.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I am apparently stuck at home again today due to weather so think I may try making this. It fits nicely into my diet. :)

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

So I'm a saag paneer fan and so this is definitely going in my try list, possibly with paneer, which I have made before although it takes a LOT of milk and time to make not-much paneer, so more likely with tofu.

And let me preface my query by stating that I like tofu and have explored multiple ways to prepare said tofu. I like it fresh with ginger and soy. I like it marinated and baked. I like it batter-dipped and fried or cornstarch-coated and fried or just tossed in oil and fried. I like it slathered with steak sauce or wrapped in tortillas or just tossed into a sauce with veggies.

And I have pressed tofu before cooking, squeezed tofu before cooking, and frozen-thawed-squeezed tofu before cooking.

But I have never before seen directions to give tofu a hot brine bath before cooking.

What does that do? Does it firm it? Soften it? Merely salt it? What mysteries of tofudom have I been missing?

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

It salts it, but also-- I guess the word I'd use for what it does to the texture is fluffs it? Like, it doesn't actually develop air bubbles or anything like that, but sauces enter it more easily and it feels as though it has a lighter consistency. But it isn't actually softer. Just lighter. Also, it salts it way more significantly than you'd think. A teaspoon of salt for 12 oz. tofu makes each piece quite salty.

[sovay]

But it isn't actually softer. Just lighter.

I think it also made the tofu slightly more crumbly, which aided the paneer texture. I noted pieces breaking apart during the last stages of the greens-cooking: normally I think of tofu as cleaving, like a mineral, rather than crumbling like, say, feta, and we definitely had a more cheese-like tofu by the end of the process.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

I shall try it with my next tofu fry. It may be a similar, faster route to the freeze-thaw-squeeze effect, plus salt.

[pameladean]

This sounds amazing.

I only have a miniature Cuisinart, alas. It will make you a good ginger-garlic or ginger-garlic-green-chili paste for your Indian food, but it's not up to more than a cup and a half at the very most. I might have to borrow my mother's full-sized version.

P.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you'd need a full-sized on account of the broccoli. I love and slightly envy those miniature ones, though, as I used to do garlic-ginger paste by hand in a mortar and pestle and I'd... rather not, and the big Cuisinart feels like overkill. Ah well, it is at least generally useful overkill.

[sovay]

as I used to do garlic-ginger paste by hand in a mortar and pestle and I'd... rather not

If we'd had to do the shallot paste by hand, we would have been there all night.

[zxhrue.livejournal.com]

how...interesting. sounds nothing like any saag I have ever had/made, but then, taught by a punjabi grandmother, so a lot closer to traditional. the broccoli would have been a definite kya hai?

minor comments based upon differing experience -- no need to pluck anything, that's what pressure cooking/blending is for -- rough chop everything and give it one whistle. I have found that a stick blender is a great substitute for a cuisinart or mixie for this dish. still should let the pressure cooked mass cool down significantly to avoid excessive splattering and or burns. typically saag has a tadka of ghee, chili powder, and spluttered full cumin added just before serving. coconut cream might add the unctousness one is looking for, worth trying anyway, but on that case I would definitely sub in coconut oil for the ghee.

might have to try and sneak this by next time. thanks!