Grilled Sweet and Sour Tofu “Shrimp” from Australia
I am always looking for ways to take great recipes and make them healthy. This adaptation is from the Grilled Shrimp served at the Australia booth in this year’s Food & Wine Festival. All the ingredients are healthy and while I will eat seafood on rare occasion, I wanted to try an alternative. I did a lot of research and found that tofu can be a viable alternative. I have never worked with tofu, but now is the time to give it a try.
Traveling Gals Tip: The trick to taking a recipe and making it “plant based” is to evoke a similar taste and texture, not an exact replication of the original.
Grilled Sweet and Sour Tofu “Shrimp” from Australia Recipe
- Extra Firm Tofu
- Green Peppers
- Green Onions
- Snap Peas
- Sweet & Sour Sauce (mine is from Whole Foods)
- Soy Sauce
- Quinoa (you can substitute rice, polenta, mashed potatoes, etc.)
I read many conflicting reports on how to prepare the tofu. In the end I prepared the tofu as follows: drained the tofu and patted it dry; cut it in cubes; put it in a bowl; added soy sauce and refrigerated for about 30 minutes. I wanted the tofu to be as firm as possible and not at all mushy. I pan grilled the tofu for about 10 minutes (5 minutes on each side). I removed the tofu from the pan and added the peppers, onions and peas for grilled for another 10 minutes or so. I combined all the ingredients, added the sweet and sour sauce and poured over a bed of quinoa. You can substitute any grain or potato you prefer. In the end, this was a very easy and light entrée. With the tofu and vegetables included I did not bother with any sides. I was very pleasantly surprised by the tofu. I even tried a couple cubes without the sweet and sour sauce and it was great. The consistency stayed firm and the outside was crispy. All in all the dish came together very well … a success!
