As summer approaches, I find myself finally moving away from hearty stews and braises, and moving back towards the lighter world of salads. This vibrant Malaysian-inspired salad is packed with grilled tofu, fresh vegetables, and herbs, and topped with a sweet and spicy dressing.
The following recipe serves about 8 small portions, or 4-6 larger-sized salads.
Malaysian-Inspired Salad with Grilled Tofu
As summer approaches, I find myself finally moving away from hearty stews and braises, and moving back towards the lighter world of salads. This vibrant Malaysian-inspired salad is packed with grilled tofu, fresh vegetables, and herbs, and topped with a sweet and spicy dressing.The following recipe serves about 8 small portions, or 4-6 larger-sized salads.
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 4 Tbsp lime juice
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic (very finely minced)
- 1 Thai chili (finely minced)
For the Remaining Salad Components:
- 1 package extra-firm tofu (drained and cut into large cubes)
- 1 large cucumber (thinly sliced)
- ¼ head of cabbage (thinly sliced)
- 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
- ½ small red onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 small carrot (peeled and then cut into strips with a vegetable peeler)
- 1 Thai chili (finely sliced)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro (leaves and stems roughly chopped)
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves (roughly chopped)
- ¼ cup peanuts (lightly toasted and crushed)
- Extra fish sauce (for serving)
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the marinade/dressing.
- Whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and minced Thai chili.
- Combine the marinade in a large ziplock bag with the tofu, and allow the tofu to sit submerged in the marinade for up to 24 hours.
- When the tofu has marinaded and you are getting ready to assemble the remaining salad components and cook, preheat your grill to 500F.
- *If you have a charcoal grill, this is going to be even better.
- Drain the tofu from the marinade, and place the marinade in a grill basket once it has drained its liquid.
- *Save the marinade and use it as the dressing for your salad.
- When the grill is hot, place the grill basket containing the marinated tofu on top of the grill grates, and cook for a few minutes on high eat, moving the tofu gently as it browns.
- When the tofu has taken on some color, remove it from the grill and place in a bowl while you prepare the remaining salad components.
- In a large bowl, combine the sliced cucumber, cabbage, bean sprouts, red onion, carrot, Thai chili, cilantro, and mint leaves.
- Add the grilled tofu from earlier to the salad.
- Toss the vegetables and tofu gently in the marinade that you reserved from earlier.
- Serve the salad with extra fresh herbs, fish sauce, and crushed roasted peanuts as a garnish.
Notes
- Feel free to substitute the tofu for whatever protein you are craving—some marinated and grilled chicken would work wonderfully here. Additionally, if you prefer to quickly saute the tofu in a pan over high heat with some vegetable oil, that would work great and is much quicker than dealing with a grill.
- Bean sprouts are wonderful, but make sure they are fresh and that they have been kept properly refrigerated prior to use. Some folks with immune system concerns avoid eating bean sprouts.