I can probably count the number of times I’ve eaten tofu in the past couple years on one hand. Sure, there are a lot of recipes that I love that use the stuff (like this one and this one), but I just never really jumped on the soy bandwagon.
So what’s a girl to do when she wants a neutral vegan protein base for recipes but eschews soy because of the potential health risks? Thankfully the good people of Burma have the answer: chickpea tofu.
This dish reminded me of the old math question: how many combinations can you make with __ numbers? Because with just chickpea flour, water and salt you could either end up with French Socca crepes, or this Burmese tofu. And probably plenty of other dishes currently unknown to me.
Use this in place of regular tofu in your favorite vegan or vegatarian recipe, or wait it out for a couple days for a recipe for a punchy Burmese tofu salad that’s packed with plenty of fresh herbs and a kicky garlic, ginger and sesame dressing. It’s worth the wait, I promise.
Yield: about 2-1/2 pounds
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes`
Total Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
* 2 cups chickpea/garbanzo bean flour
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
* 6 cups water, divided
Directions:
Combine the chickpea flour, 2 cups of water, salt, and turmeric, if using, in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth, pressing the mixture through a sieve, if necessary, to remove any lumps.
Grease one 9-inch by 13 inch or two 8-inch by 8-inch baking dishes with a neutral oil.
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed wide, shallow pot. Turn heat to medium-high on your induction cooktop. Give the chickpea mixture a stir to ensure that the mixture hasn’t separated. While stirring the water with a wooden spoon, slowly and carefully pour the chickpea flour mixture into the simmering water.
Lower the heat to medium-low, stirring continuously, until the mixture has thickened and is nice and glossy, about five minutes. Pour immediately into the prepared baking dish(es).
Let cool to room temperature and then set in the fridge for at least one hour. The longer it sits, the more water will drain out of the tofu and the firmer it will get.
Adapted from The Burmese Kitchen: Recipes from the Golden Land by Copeland Marks and Aung Thien and Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid