When tofu met pesto
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Filed under Cooking with Tofu; Healthy veggies; My recipes; Asian, Kitchen experiments
It was a whim. A last-minute whim and a decision that took all of a split-second to make. What I really intended was to saute the spinach leaves with a little Kacep Manis then use them as a bed for the fried tofu and fish fillets. I was already taking out the bottle of Kecap Manis from the fridge when my eyes went past the small jar of pesto that I made a couple of days ago. I said, “Why not?” And because pesto is much milder than Kacap Manis, I decided that a little more kick was in order — two pieces of chili picante. That was how I discovered that pesto is not an enemy of tofu.
Please note that when I make pesto, I never use pine nuts primarily because they are very expensive in the Philippines. I use either dry-roasted pili or cashew nuts. And instead of anchovies, I go with tuyo (dried salted herring) in oil. I also use fresh basil from my backyard. I am not very sure if the traditional pesto with pine nuts, anchovies and grated parmesan cheese will taste as good with tofu.
Serves 6 to 8.
Ingredients for fish, tofu and spinach with pesto
1 kg. of fish fillets (any firm, white fleshy fish will do)
250 g. of firm tofu
salt
pepper
a cup of flour
vegetable oil for deep frying
1/2 head of garlic
2 onions
2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger
2 finger chilis
spinach leaves, as much as you like
3-4 tbsps. of pesto
Crush, peel and finely mince the garlic.
Peel and cut the onion into small wedges.
Cut off the tops of the chilis and slice into rings about 1/4-inch thick.
Peel both pieces of ginger and grate finely. Divide into two portions.
Pick the spinach leaves; discard the stalks.
Cut the fish fillets into two-inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper, add one portion of the grated ginger and set aside.
Cut the tofu into about the same size.
Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan until it starts to smoke. Fry the tofu until golden. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
Dredge the fish cubes in flour and deep fry until crisp and golden. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your cookware. Just make sure that the pan is not overcrowded so that the fish cubes are able to move freely in the hot oil. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.
Pour off the cooking oil until only about a tablespoonful remains. Saute the chilis, garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds. Add the onions and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the spinach leaves, spoon the pesto over and cook, tossing, just until the spinach leaves start to wilt. Return the tofu and fish fillets to the pan, toss well to coat them with some of the pesto. Cook for a minute or so or until the fish and tofu are reheated.
Serve hot with rice.
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It seems, Connie, that you’ve created something that falls right smack under “fusion”.
Jon, oh you know how it is. If I were a chef, it would be “fusion”. But since I am just a home cook, it would be “bastardized cooking.” LOL
Truly an East meets West style of cooking. I’ll try this out sometime since I have all teh ingredients you mention. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing this recipe with your readers! I will definitely test this one out. I also hope you can come up with more tofu recipes – I’ve replaced meat with tofu (for health purposes), and I’m slowly going mad, cooking tofu the same way each time! (Ack!)
Like Renny, I’m switching to more tofu than red meat these days. Loved your recipe! Since it’s ‘purely experimental’, I added a bit of twist to your recipe (hope you don’t mind!) I made the pesto a bit more creamier and served it with soba (we’re minimizing rice intake).
Thank you for all your great recipes! You are an inspiration to a newly married/housewife!
Cheers!
ms connie,
would it taste the same if i made the pesto minus the anchovies or tuyo? my family is allergic to it so when i tried your pesto recipe i ommitted the anchovies. i dont know lang if this will work well with tofu. i still have left-over pesto and i wanted to use it sana baka masira na kasi. by the way how long is the shelf life of home made pesto?
thanks!
anna
anna, it won’t taste the same but that’s okay so long as you add lots of garlic, it will still be very tasty. If you keep your pesto in the fridge, it lasts for three weeks. At least, that’s the longest that my pesto lasted.
thanks ms connie… the left over pesto has molds already so i made another homemade pesto this morning which i cooked with bangus belly. i again ommitted the anchovies but added more garlic (buti na lang yun din ang advise mo) and seasoned with salt and pepper. i also used the same pan to cook fried rice because i suddenly remember the green rice that i ate in a restaurant (i cant recall the name), medyo not the same taste but it gave a different flavor to the fried rice! at masarap din in fairness hehehe..
many thanks po talaga for sharing your passion in cooking!
hi miss connie,
i tried this recipe this morning. question po, is this suppose to be a hot dish? mine was way too hot! yung finger chili is the same as siling pang sigang diba? maybe the chilli na nabili ko sobrang anghang. this was supposed to be the lunch of my MIL and 1 1/2 yr old son pero since it was way too hot, di pala pwede. pero masarap sya, mapadami ang kain ko ng breakfast kanina hehehe..thanks!
Yep, it is a hot dish, Anna. If you like it milder, scrape off the seeds of the chilis before using.
will keep that in mind… thanks a lot ms connie!
oh..these two are my top favorites… tofu and pesto…Thanks for all your unique recipes!