This method allows you to make homemade smoked tofu without a smoker. It is quick, and easy and cleanup is effortless. You don’t even need wood chips – tea and rice will be the smoking medium
What equipment do I need?
A suitable pot or wok. I use a carbon steel wok I’ve had for years. Any cast iron pot will also work. I’d avoid stainless steel pots, as the dry heat you will be applying may damage the pot. You will need a lid that fits on the pan or wok.
- A cooling rack, metal grill, or metal trivet that you can place inside the wok. The food will rest on this grill, and you will need some space between the smoking medium at the bottom of the wok and this rack.
- Enough foil to line the wok
- Rice and tea leaves to act as a smoking medium
- How to smoke tofu
Begin by lining your pan or wok with foil. Use enough so that there is at least two to three cm (about 1 inch) excess over the edges. Add a handful of rice to the bottom of the wok, and about 3-4 teabags of tea. You can also use a few heaped teaspoons of loose leaf tea. The rice helps to regulate the burn of the tea leaves.
Position your rack above the smoking medium. I have a round steel trivet that works really well with my wok – the curvature of the wok means that there is an inch or so gap between the rice/tea mixture and the trivet. If you are using a flat bottomed pan, you will need something to lift the rack from the bottom of the pan. One option is to use an inverted foil tray with holes pocked into it.
Place the food on top of the rack. Do not let the food touch the sides of the pan, as the bits that touch the sides will burn. This is what my setup looks like at this stage. The tofu shown here is marinated, but you can smoke it plain.
Put a lid on the wok. Fold the excess foil over the lid to improve the seal. Place on high heat. After about 5-10 minutes, you will see a little smoke escaping. Reduce the heat medium. I use about a 20 minute smoking time. If you prefer a milder smoked taste, check the tofu after 10 minutes and taste a piece. If, at this stage, you feel you would like a stronger smoky taste, just check if there is still some unburnt tea before returning the wok to heat.
Tea smoked tofu
Equipment
- Wok
- wire rack
Ingredients
- 2 blocks tofu
- 1 handful rice
- 4 tsp tea
Instructions
- Press the tofu for about 30 minutes. I do this by placing the blocks between two cutting boards, and putting my nice heavy cast iron mortar and pestle on top of this.
- Slice the tofu into 1 cm / half inch slices. Baste with a marinade if using.
- Line a suitable (see notes above) wok/pot with foil, and use enough to wrap back over the lid to seal. Put the rice and tea in the bottom. Put your rack on top of this, ensuring that there is some space betweem the rice and tea mixture and the rack. Read the notes above the recipe for more details
- Place the tofu slices on the rack. Make sure the tofu is not touching the sides of the wok. Cover with the wok lid and seal with foil. You can also place a wet tea towel around edges
- Put the wok on high heat. Reduce the heat after about five minutes. Smoke for 10-20 minutes, depending on how smoky you want it. On your first attempt, you may want to start with about 10 minutes. You can always reseal the pot and smoke it again if needed.