Wasabi-Soy Avocado & Tofu

If you love both avocado and the flavors of Asia, this is the dish for you. Easily tossed together in only a few minutes, and refrigerated while your rice cooks. Simple and delicious, doesn’t get much better than that!  

I’ve been eating tofu in things my entire life, but never knew the difference between the refrigerated tofu you buy, which comes packed in water, and silken tofu. Silken tofu comes in a box, without liquid, and is usually kept in the grocery aisle with the other Asian foods. For a long time I knew I’d probably had it, but wasn’t sure what it was I had it in, or the difference really. I knew for certain I’d never made it. When I finally bought some and ate it, I thought, “Ohhhh….” It clicked what the silken tofu was. Same flavor, but different consistency. This tofu is creamy and dense, not spongy at all.

There are a couple things I love about silken tofu. I do love its, smooth creamy texture, this makes it perfect for certain recipes. Some people really can’t handle the spongy texture of other tofus, and I think those individuals should try silken before crossing it all off the list. Another thing I love about it, is that it’s safe to be eaten without cooking first. That makes preparing cold tofu dishes, like this one here, so much easier and less time consuming. What also makes it less time consuming is the fact that you don’t press it! How awesome is that? I hate when I go to make something, only I forgot to press the tofu first. Usually there are veggies or other ingredients I can prep while I wait, but not always.

There is one thing I do feel deserves a warning. The silken tofu is so very fragile. I always buy extra firm but it still has a tendency to break apart. For this reason, make sure you are extra careful when handling it. I learned the hard way, to first cut open both ends of the box, before sliding it out. The first time I opened the one end, turned it upside down, and some of the tofu stuck to the other side and it broke in half in an uneven shape. Of course this doesn’t ruin the flavor, but can be frustrating depending on what dish you are making.

Okay, I told you all about the tofu, and shared where in the store you can find it, there is one other ingredient on the list which you may not recognize, mirin. Mirin is a sweet rice wine used in Japanese cooking. The first time I had this on my shopping list, I had no idea where to find it. It ended up being easier than I thought it would be. My first store was my local health food store where I do the majority of my shopping. Unfortunately, that was a miss. My next stop was a major grocery store, and they carried it in the Asian section along with the soy sauce, sesame oil, and silken tofu, of course. Another surprise was it was much cheaper than I thought it would be. The bottle was only about two dollars, that’s cheaper than soy sauce!  You usually only use a little and it keeps well in the fridge. Even though you don’t cook the alcohol out in this recipe, there’s no need to worry. Mirin usually has a low alcohol content, and you’re only using one tablespoon.

Now that I’ve gone over some of the ingredients, let me get back to the preparation of this dish. I told you it was easy, but didn’t go into a whole lot of detail. You whisk together the marinade ingredients, dice the avocado and tofu, pour some of the marinade over them, stir, and then place it in the fridge to sit for an hour. When its done you pour the rest of the marinade over the top, stir, and then serve over rice.

You do need to think about time, because there is some waiting, but it really is so very simple to make. Dice and stir, doesn’t get much easier than that! I’ll usually make this to accompany an Asian soup or fresh spring rolls, so I’ll make those, and the rice, while this sits in the refrigerator.  For an easy sushi rice, I use my rice cooker, using this recipe here. I’ve also, put this recipe over hot Jasmine rice, rather than sushi rice, and that is delicious as well.

If there are any left overs, this makes a lovely lunch to pack. I don’t feel like the rice needs to be hot, since sushi rice is usually served at room temperature anyways. I’ll keep the left overs in the same Tupperware as the rice, and put it in either my husband or son’s lunch in the morning.

I don’t think I ever realized how well tofu and avocado go together, but this really works! I also feel like my marinade turned out the perfect mix of flavors without being too salty, as soy sauce can sometimes be. Not too spicy either. I do love the flavor the wasabi powder adds. If you are sensitive to heat, you can always use less Sriracha.

Are you ready to dice and stir? Let’s get to it then!