Vegan and Gluten Free
Serendipity Jane
Original Recipe: Jane Fox
Savory Pomegranate Tofu is a spectacular special occasion dish with flavors of pomegranate and chipotle, and a presentation meant to impress!
My Inspiration
Special occasions call for a main dish with a “Wow!” factor and with Valentine’s Day growing close, Savory Pomegranate Tofu could be just what you are looking for. I was racking my brain as to how I was going to pull off a dazzling Vegan and Gluten free Valentine main dish that would stand out.
Tofu makes a great main dish but unless it’s marinated correctly, it can be really bland. I find the most flavorful way to prepare tofu is to cut it in to cubes and marinate it. It tastes great but it looks so ordinary. One day, the idea just popped into my head! Shapes! I decided to use a cookie cutter to shape the tofu and to cut another shape in the center to allow a greater surface area for sauce to penetrate, and let the flavor seep in. For Valentine’s Day what could be better than a heart shape! I set to work on a sexy sauce to compliment the beautiful heart shape and Heart Shaped Pomegranate Tofu was born!
Ingredients
The Base:
Using Extra Firm Tofu is a must. The tofu needs to be pressed to remove the water and to allow it to soak up the tasty marinade. Pressing needs to be done evenly and slowly and the tofu needs to be sturdy. Otherwise, cracks could form in the block and the tofu could crumble when it is cut.
The Marinade:
Pomegranate Molasses is a reduction of Pomegranate juice and is often used in middle eastern cooking. I first found Pomegranate Molasses when curiosity led me to check out a local international food store. I bought the pomegranate syrup thinking the thick sweet condiment would jazz up plain vegan vanilla ice cream and did it ever! It ended up being so much better than I could ever have imagined! It was Tart, sweet, and fruity, all at the same time and I knew I had to think of a way to use it besides just pouring it over ice cream! So, in brainstorming for a sexy Valentines Day sauce, pomegranate molasses jumped to mind! Don’t worry about finding it in stores. As exotic as it sounds, I have seen Pomegranate Molasses stocked in Walmart and Whole Foods, and you can also order it on Amazon.
Gluten-Free Tamari and Balsamic Vinegar join together to add a Umami flavor to the marinade. Tamari adds some saltiness, and the Balsamic provides flavor, in addition to the all important acidity necessary to help break down the protein in the tofu, thus allowing the marinade to be absorbed.
Both the Olive Oil and the water helps mellow the marinade by diluting the strong flavors of the Pomegranate, Tamari and Balsamic.
The Sauce:
The marinade itself needs to be thin, so that it can easily be absorbed into the spongy tofu, but it’s too thin to make a good sauce. After the tofu is pulled from the marinade, Cornstarch is used to thicken the marinade into a luscious flavor bomb of a finishing sauce.
Sprinkling Pomegranate Seeds over the tofu hearts, is optional, but it provides a beautiful garnish to this dish. You can buy a whole pomegranate and do it yourself, or if you are pressed for time, or just don’t want to stain your hands, buy them already separated and ready to go.
The Process
- Drain the water from the package of tofu.
- Press the excess water from the block of tofu, preferably using a tofu press.
Tip: Make sure that you press slowly and evenly so as not to crack the cake of tofu. Major cracks will make it difficult to keep its shape once it is cut. I recommend using a tofu press.
- When the tofu block is about half of its starting height, remove it from the tofu press.
Tip: The water that is pressed out makes way for the marinade to soak in. I removed about a cup cup of water from the (2) 14 oz, tofu blocks.
- Cut through the center of each the tofu blocks so that you end up with four tofu pieces approx. 5 x 3 x 1″ high.
- Using a large cookie cutter, cut a large heart shape out of each tofu piece.
- I used a 4″ heart shaped cookie cutter. The cutter was slightly larger than the tofu cake so the edges of the heart shape flattened slightly. I didn’t want to go down any more in size and the flattened curve is hardly noticeable in the finished piece.
- Save the extra pieces of tofu for a later use. I ended up with an entire cup of crumbled tofu, from the two blocks. I used the crumbles of tofu in a fried rice dish.
Tip: The larger hearts are delicate and need to be handled carefully to avoid cracking. I find sliding the spatula at the pointed end of the heart works the best. If you prefer, cut all of the hearts in the smaller size. They are small enough to absorb enough marinade and are much less delicate with the center still in tact.
- Using a skewer, or other pointed sharp object, pierce the tofu heart creating tiny holes across the surface. This provides another avenue to allow the marinade to seep into the tofu.
- Using a smaller heart shaped cookie cutter, remove the center of the heart. This gives an even greater surface area for the marinade to seep in to the tofu. Make sure to keep the smaller heart cutouts.
- Mix the Pomegranate Molasses, Gluten Free Tamari Sauce, Basaltic Vinegar, Oil, and Chipotle Sauce and pour it into a shallow baking dish.
- Carefully place the large and small hearts in to the baking dish with the marinade. The large hearts are especially delicate.
- Cover and place the dish in the refrigerator for an hour. The tofu will soak up the marinade.
- After the hearts have marinated for at least an hour on one side, carefully flip them over and return to the refridgerator for at least another hour.
- Do not marinate the hearts for longer than 24 hours as the acid that allows the marinade to sink in, will begin to degrade the tofu.
- Once the hearts have marinated on both sides, heat about two Tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick pan.
- Gently lower the tofu hearts in to the pan and allow them to brown, about two minutes.
- Flip the hearts over to brown the second side.
- When both sides are browned, remove the hearts on to paper towels to drain.
- Add the Cornstarch with the 1/2 cup of cold water. Mix thoroughly until there are no lumps.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the rest of the marinade and then add the mixture to the hot pan.
- Stir the mixture until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Place the tofu hearts back in the sauce to coat and heat.
- Place the hearts on serving plates, drizzle with the pomegranate sauce, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds to garnish.
Enjoy!
Printable Recipe
Savory Pomegranate Tofu
Equipment
- tofu press
- Frying Pan
- Cookie Cutters (optional)
- baking dish, oblong, 2 or 3 quart
Ingredients
- 2 Packages Extra Firm Tofu 14. oz.
- 1/4 cup Gluten Free Tamari Sauce
- 1/4 cup Pomegranate Molasses
- 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Chipotle Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1/2 cup Pomegranate seeds optional
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic optional
Instructions
- Press the tofu, preferably with a tofu press, to remove excess water. You will want to do this slowly with even pressure to avoid cracking the block of tofu.
- Slice the pressed tofu, lengthwise down the center to create four rectangular pieces approximately 3" x 5" x 1."
- Cut each of the four tofu pieces with a 4 " Heart shaped cookie cutter to create four tofu hearts. If the shape doesn't fit on the sides by a small amount, don't worry. It will not be noticeable when it is done. Reserve the trimmed tofu pieces for another use.
- With a pointed skewer, pierce the top of the tofu across the surface. This will allow another avenue for the marinade to seep into the tofu.
- Press a smaller cookie cutter in the center of each of the larger heart shapes. Handle gently because the heart shape can easily tear. Retain the smaller heart shapes. We'll cook those too.
- Option: If you prefer, cut the tofu into cubes. approx. 1" x 1 or just use the small cutters.
- Mix the gluten-free tamari, pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and chipotle tabasco together in a shallow baking dish, that will allow all of the tofu pieces to lay flat. Place the tofu pieces flat in the marinade. If you have chosen to cut the tofu in cubes, you can use a large zip lock plastic bag instead.
- Cover the dish and place it in the refrigerator.
- Let the tofu marinate for at least an hour on each side. The longer the tofu is in the marinade the tastier it will be. Do not let the tofu marinate for longer than 48 hours.
- Once the tofu is done marinating, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Carefully place the tofu hearts in the oil to brown. About two minutes. When they reach a golden brown color, carefully turn each piece and brown the other side.
- Combine the 1/2 cup of cold water with the cornstarch and mix until the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture to the remaining marinade and add it to the hot pan.
- If you are using the optional garlic, add it to the pan now.
- Stir the liquid until it thickens.
- Add the tofu hearts back to the pan to heat.
- Remove the Pomegranate Tofu from the pan.
- Drizzle the tofu hearts with the sauce and garnish with pomegranate seeds. (optional)
- Enjoy!
