I first read about this chickpea “tofu” a few years ago in Naomi Duguid’s excellent cookbook Burma: Rivers of Flavor. It sounded delicious, nutritious and simple, not to mention gluten free, but somehow I never got around to making it. Then a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a bag of Bob’s Red Mill chickpea flour that I had bought for some long forgotten purpose and decided to give it a whirl. I did a quick internet search to collect a variety of recipes for the tofu to experiment with, but soon discovered that everybody makes it the same way roadside vendors make it in Thailand and Burma. Mix up a slurry of water, salt and chickpea flour, pour it into a pot of boiling water and stir for five minutes. It’s that easy.
The result is a lot like polenta. And just like polenta, Burmese chickpea tofu can be served immediately, when it is loose and hot, or it can be cooled in a mold until solid, then cut up and used in a variety of recipes.
In Burma and Thailand, the fresh-off-the-heat soft tofu is eaten as a kind of thick soup. Typically, it’s served for breakfast garnished with rice noodles, fresh bean sprouts, herbs like cilantro and basil, chopped peanuts, chile-garlic sauce, fried shallots and chopped crunchy fresh greens. That is my kind of breakfast.
The leftovers are allowed to solidify and then are cut up for noodles or into chunks that can be fried and served later in the day as a snack or quick lunch. Any way you choose to eat it, this chickpea tofu is wonderful. Why not add it to your recipe repertoire for 2017?
2 cups chickpea flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill), about 8 ounces
1½ teaspoons salt
6 cups water, divided
neutral oil for greasing molds
3 approximately 5-inch square plastic containers with lids
Oil the three plastic containers and set aside. Place 4 cups of the water in a medium-large pot and set it on the stove to heat to a boil.
Meanwhile, put the chickpea flour and the salt in a bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the remaining 2 cups of water. Whisk very well to get all the lumps out of it. It will get a bit foamy – that’s fine.
When the pot of water has come to a brisk boil, turn down the heat a little and begin pouring the chickpea mixture into the pot, stirring well as you do. Keep stirring the pot, turning down the heat more if necessary to avoid splattering or scorching the chickpea mixture. The tofu should bubble gently while you stir for a full five minutes; otherwise, the tofu will taste grassy and raw and won’t be solid enough to cut easily. Remove from the heat.
To make the tofu, let the mixture cool for several minutes before dividing it between the three containers. Leave them uncovered until they come to room temperature. At this point, you may cover the containers and place them in the refrigerator, where the tofu will keep well for about a week.
Don’t worry if a little moisture builds up in the containers – just pour it off. When ready to use, turn a square of tofu out of the plastic mold onto a cutting board – it should slide right out of the container.
The tofu can be used in several ways. First, it may be sliced into noodles. These can be used cold or at room temperature and are great in salads with plenty of herbs, crunchy greens and Asian-style dressing made with sriracha, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, and a little sesame oil. They can also be used in soups, but the soup should be ladled over the noodles at serving time because simmering will cause them to dissolve into the stock.
The tofu may also be cut into squares, rectangles or triangles about ½ inch thick and then fried in about an inch of oil such as peanut or grapeseed (which can tolerate high heat without burning) that has been heated to 350 degrees. I use a small pot to do this, which means using less oil. Cook until the pieces turn golden brown, flipping them halfway through so they cook on both sides. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. They can be served hot or warm with your choice of dipping sauce. I like a mixture of chile-garlic sauce, soy sauce or fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, scallions and a little water.
Finally, the tofu can be used as a thickener in soups or stir fry, adding a dose of protein and a nice flavor to a recipe. Crumble about ½ cup of the mixture into simmering stock or a cooking stir fry and stir to dissolve. You may add more if you would like the final dish to be thicker.