Sketching with Tofu

So I was doing a course this weekend so there was not so much time for getting into the full on gourmet burger. On Saturday night I came home to about a third of a pack of tofu. I had thought I would stir fry it, but then decided I would do a makey-uppy burger.

I had followed a recipe from my Temple Cuisine cookbook for stuffing Shiitake mushrooms with tofu. That's where some of the tofu had gone already. In this the tofu is blended with ground roasted sesame seeds. The final dish is made tasty with sesame oil, soy sauce and mirin.

I decided to blend the tofu with some ground sesame seeds and addd salt and pepper and a couple of chopped spring onions. I had pressed as much water out of the tofu in a tea towel before blending to help ensure the mixture would bind.

I then coated the mixture - which was pretty wet but I was able to shape it okay - with breadcrumbs. The mixture took the breadcrumbs well and was easier to handle once it was 'dressed'. I then shallow fried the burgers. For serving, I thought the flavour of tofu is too close to bread to make a burger bun at all appealing. So I went for serving it with cous cous and some salad. The salad had a dressing and I poured some sesame oil over the burger to help add some more flavour there.

I think this initial play with the idea could be developed. I found the spring onion a bit overpowering, so lost the sesame seed flavour. I was thinking that adding either sun dried tomatoes or shiitake mushrooms chopped through it may be better than the onion flavour. Unless the onions are fried first maybe to take the edge off them. The sesame oil worked and I wonder about a Japanese flavour inspired burger where the flavours are ginger, shiitake, sesame and maybe something green - maybe even some seaweed? The thing is the tofu is still quite moist, so need to think of things that are not going to bring too much moisture to the mix.

This burger beat the pants off a burger I was served in a restaurant. It was advertised as a tofu burger. I was served with a burger bun and a 1cm deep rectangular slab of tofu sliced off a block. Naked. No marinade. Nothing else except a drizzle of olive oil and some pepper on top. It was about as disappointing as a burger could get.

Anyhow, next time I have some tofu to play with I may develop the theme.

How did you get on this weekend? Did you get to try one of the recipes from the book?