Tahu Isi (vegan)
A friend of mine asked a long time ago: “When will tahu isi be on your blog?” Since she was coming over for Christmas dinner, I tried to make them as good as possible. I made the tofu cubes larger than usual so I could fill them properly, but they should actually be a bit smaller. Still, they tasted delicious, especially with a little sweet soy sauce drizzled over them.
This tahu isi is ready in 1.5 hours and serves 5 people.
Tofu Isi
Ingredients
Tofu Marinade
- 1 block tofu (500 grams)
- 1 tablespoon salt in a large bowl of water
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
Filling
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 carrot
- 100 grams cabbage (any kind)
- Handful of celery
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sambal (any kind)
Batter
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 5 candlenuts, roasted and crushed
- 1 teaspoon coriander (ketumbar)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 200 grams rice flour
- 200 milliliters water (approximately)
Frying
Sunflower oil
- Cut the tofu block in half, in half again, and then cut thick slices diagonally.
- Scoop out the center with a teaspoon and reserve the tofu for another use. Marinate all the tofu cubes for 1 hour in lukewarm water with 1 tablespoon of salt and two crushed garlic cloves.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling by blending 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 carrot, some cabbage and celery with half a teaspoon of salt and sambal. I like to make it really fine so it’s easy to press into the tofu.
- Now fry the filling in a little oil. This only takes a moment, but it helps the flavors bind together.
- For the batter, roast the kemir nuts and grind or pound them finely in a cobek (mortar and pestle). Add the coriander, turmeric, salt, and crushed garlic clove.
- Now make a paste with these spices from the rice flour and water. Make sure it remains thick, like salad dressing, so it sticks well to the tofu.
- Heat a generous layer of sunflower oil in a pan and fry the tofu pieces until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and serve with sweet soy sauce or a sweet soy sauce.
- I soak my tofu cubes this way and turn them over after half an hour. I cut quite large cubes, so they can be smaller.
I soak my tofu blocks this way and turn them over after half an hour. I cut quite large blocks. They could be smaller.
On the bottom plate, you can see the spices for the rice flour batter.
Because the cubes are relatively large, I can fill them well with the filling. This way, the flavors are well balanced.
Now they can be dipped in the batter and fried thoroughly in the pan. The batter adds a lot of extra flavor thanks to the garlic. We’re eating this tofu isi with sweet soy sauce, rice, and the ketopak salad.
