Fried Tofu with Kimchi Asparagus
4 servings
20 minutes
There are three main elements in this dish. The tofu itself, rolled in starch and deep-fried until a thin crispy shell appears around each piece. The asparagus, which is served raw. And the main character of the edible installation is an extremely inventive sauce, which, among other things, includes kimchi sauce itself (it is sold in tubes in Korean stores), Japanese mirin rice wine, Japanese mitsukan vinegar, lime, peanut butter and chopped ice. If you have all the necessary bottles at hand, the sauce is prepared in an instant: you need to poke the blender button and mix everything. Then it's a matter of a couple of seconds: the icy sauce with textured peanut crumbs is laid out on a plate, crispy asparagus sprigs are placed on top of it, like fresh oysters, straight from the frying pan, hot tofu is placed on top. All that remains is to decorate with basil and eat immediately. You must not hesitate under any circumstances: the contrast of the icy freshness of the sauce and the hot tofu lasts no more than a minute on the plate, but it is in it that all the delight of the receptors lies. The author of the recipe, Buro TSUM brand chef Vladimir Chistyakov, is known for just such outwardly laconic, but sophisticated in terms of taste-building snacks. Recipe by Vladimir Chistyakov, brand chef of the Buro TSUM restaurant.
1
Marinate the asparagus. For the marinade, mix 100 ml of water with white wine vinegar, sugar, and kimchi sauce. Place the asparagus in the marinade and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
- Asparagus: 300 g
- White wine vinegar: 100 ml
- Sugar: 60 g
- Kimchi sauce: 250 g
2
Prepare the sauce. Mix peanut butter, lime juice, garlic, ginger root, soy sauce, mirin, mitsukan, ice, vegetable oil, and chili pepper and blend until smooth. Add finely grated lime zest and mix. The recipe requires 100 grams of finished sauce.
- Peanut butter: 100 g
- Lime juice: 40 ml
- Garlic: 10 g
- Ginger: 25 g
- Soy sauce: 50 ml
- Mirin: 25 ml
- Rice vinegar: 25 ml
- Ice: 80 g
- Vegetable oil: 210 ml
- Chili pepper: 15 g
- Lime zest: 10 g
3
Pat the tofu with a paper towel, coat it in starch, and deep fry in vegetable oil.
- Tofu: 300 g
- Starch: 20 g
- Vegetable oil: 210 ml
4
Pour the sauce onto a plate, add the marinated asparagus on top, and then the tofu. Sprinkle with finely chopped chili pepper and garnish with basil leaves.
- Peanut butter: 100 g
- Asparagus: 300 g
- Tofu: 300 g
- Chili pepper: 15 g
- Basil leaves: to taste