I don't know about you but I love tahini - that lovely thick paste made from ground sesame seeds. The Japanese use sesame quite a lot in cooking but for some reason, we never got around to grinding it down into a paste. So, I can't claim that tahini is Japanese but I do find it is great way to create a really rich umami flavour when combined with soy sauce. I use this dressing quite a lot for salads because the tahini gives you a lot of nutrition that a salad can't - tahini actually contains more protein than milk as well as vitamins b and e, magnesium, iron and calcium.
Pair the Tahini and Soy dressing with fried tofu and you have a low calorie, meat free, high protein lunch or dinner. What's not to like about that?
Fancy the sound of this dish? If you do, then you can find the written recipe just below. The Youtube tutorial can be found by clicking heFried Tofu salad with Miso Tahini sauce or scroll to the bottom of the page. Give it a try if you know what's good for you!
Happy cooking, Kurumi XXXX.
If you want to try another tahini sauce recipe, why not try out my Tofu Kebabs with Miso and Tahini sauce?
Fried tofu salad with Tahini and Soy dressing
ingredients:
(makes 2 servings)
400g firm tofu
40g rocket, rinsed
130g green & red gem lettuce, rinsed and cut into bite size
50g red bell pepper
50g yellow bell pepper
150g sugar snaps
100g baby tomatoes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp tahini paste
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sushi vinegar
2 tsp fried shallots for topping
(optional)
some kitchen paper
how to:
remove the strings from the sugar snaps and rinse
drain the excess water from the tofu using the kitchen paper
removed the seeds from the peppers, rinse and thinly slice
cut the tofu in half lengthways, then cut into 1 cm cubes
to make the sesame dressing, mix the tahini paste and 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil, then add the soy sauce & sushi vinegar and mix well
boil the sugar snaps in a pan for 2 mins, drain and set aside
heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, fry the tofu for 1 min over a high heat, then turn over and fry for a further 1 min
mix together the rocket, lettuce, bell peppers & sugar snaps in a bowl
to assemble per person, put 1/2 the salad on a plate, add the 1/2 of each tofu and tomatoes topped with some fried shallots
drizzle with the dressing before serving