I made some changes (used 1 eggplant, no cilantro and less basil, fried the eggplant slices, sprinkled some soy sauce on the tofu, and used red peppers instead of chile). It was excellent and very flavourful. I served the dish with white basmati rice cooked in vegetable stock. Will definitly make it again!
This recipe is okay. I think it would be better with a lot of tweaking though. Using the grill for the eggplant is a brilliant idea. Cooked up fast and soft; the grilled flavor was yummy. The tofu was really bland though could have used some advanced preparation to add some sort of flavor (sauteed in some sort of seasoning like chili powder soy sauce or something). Also everyone agreed that they thought the dish would have been better with some chopped tomatoes added to the sauce. Lastly after using a blender to mix onions chili peppers and garlic in my kitchen everyones eyes were burning and tearing for about a half an hour. May want to do that in a very well ventilated area...like outside.
This is a wonderful tasting dish, especially during the summmer months...I choose to brush the pepper sauce on the tofu slices and then grill each side until brown. I also rubbed oil on the eggplant and charred them on the grill.
Then I added to the pan with the sauce and eggplant. Enjoy!
Cydney Walton
Trenton, New Jersey
Yummy! This has so much flavor! And it uses simple ingredients. The eggplant practically melts into the sauce. I'm bbq'ing my eggplant whole from now on. It actually only took about 10 minutes, and I turned the heat down to medium, on my brand new Weber (bragging, sorry). I only had one small eggplant, so I added some broccoli from my garden. I pressed my tofu, sliced it into about 3/4-1" slices, then marinated it for about an hour in a marinade of oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mirin, and rice vinegar, then cooked it on foil on the grill for about 15 minutes. I added a small tomato as somebody suggested, for color and to make it a little saucier. I have a salt tooth, not a sugar tooth, so I cut the sugar in half and added soy sauce. I love spice, but thought the three serranos would be too much heat for me, but once I put the whole thing over rice, it was fine (for me). Definitely not bland. I think next time I will try adding some coconut milk to the sauce. Thanks!
Really liked the flavor (though had to add a couple of things to make it more savory) but this was really spicy! I would recommend adding your hot peppers one at a time since heat varies by the pepper. Also the textures of the tofu and eggplant were too similar - both were soft. Next time I will add peanuts or something else with crunch and maybe some broccoli. I will make this again with a few changes.
I added some chisen toban (Chinese Miso) and a little oyster sauce because I found this recipe sweet.
I used a bit of Swamp Fire hot sauce in the recipe because it needed something else. I also didn't use Cilantro because the stuff tastes like Ivory soap to me. The flavor with the added hot sauce which had a bit of a vinegar base was actually good. I liked the tang and the heat. I served over a very nice rice pilaf which could stand alone in flavor. Also I didn't grill the Eggplant but broiled it. Worked just fine. In fact it was suprisingly good. It does have a 'bland' color scheme which I spiced up with more colorful veggies in the pilaf and on the side. DO NOT USE SILKEN OR SOFT TOFU for this. You need something waterpacked and firm to extra firm. I used Steak grilled tofu extra firm.
I agree with other reviewers that the tofu needs something. Other than that I enjoyed this dish. I prepared the eggplant differently: cut into 1/4 inch slices salt eggplant slices and let sit for 20 mins. then rinse. Lightly brush slices with olive oil then grill on BBQ until slightly charred and a little soft. I left the skin on and it gave the dish more color. I also used a combination of serrano and fresno peppers. The fresno peppers are milder and added a little red color to the dish. I used 1.5 serranos and 2 fresnos and it was almost too hot for me. Next time I will cut back on the chilis. I used fresh thai basil instead of the standard grocery store variety. I didn't have a problem with it being too sweet...used white onion and 1 heaping tablespoon of brown sugar.
Really nice and easy. it was a hit
