tofu & seaweed? they’ll like it, i promise

I wonder if when she shared this recipe with me in college, she knew she was changing my life forever. Jenn is part-Korean and prepared this meal quite often when we lived together. She was nice enough to let me try it one night, and even nicer to teach it to me a few months later. Bless you, Jenn. Bless you.

Behold, the yummiest + easiest + cheapest way to feed a large family:

What you need:
Tofu. My family eats three packages’ worth in one meal.
Rice. Get fancy with the sticky stuff, or use whatever you already have.
Sauce. Soy, teriyaki, stir-fry… the sky’s the limit.
Seaweed paper. I prefer to buy in bulk, but groceries stock it.

What you do: 
Remember, this recipe is all about the options!
Dry & cut the tofu. Sometimes, I press it between two cutting boards, and sometimes I bake it for an hour at a low temp. Sometimes, I do none of the above and cook it sopping it wet. Drier = more firm when cooked. After drying, Sometimes, I leave it in longer strips. Usually, I cut it into bite-sized squares. If I’m baking it, I cut it up first thing.
Cook the tofu. Grease up a pan and fry it in rice wine or soy sauce or any kind of oil. You can also bake it for thirty minutes at 375. You’ll need to keep it moving, either by flipping it in the pan or turning it over halfway through its oven adventure. I typically use a minimal amount of flavorful sauce (teriyaki, etc) during this part, to keep things bland for the younger kids.
Cook the rice. You can do it.

To serve:
Throw the tofu and rice in separate bowls, and serve the tofu onto a bed of rice. Hand out the seaweed paper. Put the sauces on table, so everyone can make their own concoction. Chris & I place a piece of tofu and a scoop of rice in a piece of seaweed paper, and then eat. The boys like to eat their seaweed separately. The sisters just shove fistfuls tofu in their mouths until we stop serving them. Whatever works!

Although the Monsanto drama has scared us off of soy milk, we seriously eat this dish once a week. I serve it with green beans or a broccoli stir fry, depending on what we have on hand. Each of my kids eats it a different way, but everyone loves it all the same. Cheers!