Fried Tofu with Peanut Sauce

There's a fun game I like to play... it's called catch up! The premise of the game is you go back through your food pictures and see that you have great recipes from, um, July that you haven't posted yet and then you spend a Sunday evening finally putting them up for the "world" to enjoy!

It's a lot of fun. The best is trying to remember what the heck you changed from a recipe- d'oh!!!

This meal was really good, and I do legitimately remember that these 2.5 months later. But really, how can you go wrong with a peanut sauce, right?! I'm trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals and tofu is a great way to do it. It is cheaper and I really need to eat more greens! Now we'll just see if I can blog about these lovely recipes sooner so I can recreate them again!


Fried Tofu with Peanut Sauce
Loosely based from Food Network

• 1 Package Extra Firm Tofu
  
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
  
• 2 tsp. Sesame Oil
  
• 2 tsp. Cooking Sherry
  
• 1/2 can Coconut Milk
  
• 1/2 C. Smooth Peanut Butter
  
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
  
• 1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
  
• 1 tsp. Curry Powder
  
• 1 Tbsp. Lime Juice
  
• 1 tsp. Sesame Oil
  
• 2 tsp. Soy Sauce
  
• Dash Cayenne and/ or Chili Powder

1. Remove the tofu from its container and drain it by gently but firmly pressing the block between a few layers of paper towels. Does that make sense- gently but firmly? I mean that it is easy to break up the tofu if you are too rough, but you do need to apply some pressure to get moisture out.
   
2. While the tofu drains, mix together the soy sauce, oil, and sherry from the start of the ingredient list.
   
3. Slice the tofu into large chunks. In a large skillet on medium-high heat, warm up a splash of oil. Place the tofu pieces in the pan and let them sit so that they brown. It takes some time- I want to say a good 10 minutes. Once lightly browned, gently flip the pieces to brown the opposite side.
   
4. I think at this point, I poured the sherry mix in the pan to season the tofu. But there is also a chance I either used it as a marinade as the recipe calls for, or I may have omitted that whole portion. (Sorry, the peanut sauce really was the star, so I didn't bother to remember these details!)
   
5. While the tofu cooks, mix the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat. The peanut butter will melt and the sauce will thin out.
   
6. Serve the tofu over while rice or Asian noodles and pour the peanut butter goodness generously over the top!