Beans, Miso and Sour Tofu

Let’s be honest, I just wanted to make a meal comprised purely of beans. A simple, elegant side dish or cheat dinner on toast (as seen above with a version of our rye sourdough that I baked leeks and nigella seeds into) this pan fried selection of French beans and broad beans is the perfect excuse to make one of my favourite sauces. Miso and cider vinegar (sweetened with a little maple syrup, date syrup or honey). Finished with either some crumbled feta or fermented sour tofu, which acts as a less salty, less ‘goaty’ equivalent. With a total cooking time of 6-7 minutes, there’s no excuse not to give this a try.

For those who aren’t familiar with sour tofu (also called fermented tofu, stinky tofu or Chao) it is a preserved tofu in brine and usually either rice wine, mirin or a spirit like vodka. Stored ambient for a month, the tofu develops a pungent cheesiness that is popular across Asia but not too well known in the West. You can buy fermented tofu from most organic health food shops or make your own from regular tofu in a process that involves boiling it, drying it, and setting it in a jar with the brine. After a month the tofu will be tasty and funky and ready to use as an accompaniment or to flavour sauces. I will include a fermenting brine recipe at the bottom of this page for those who wish to try making their own.

In this recipe I have decided to use my favourite kind of miso, sweet white miso. Despite it’s name, it doesn’t actually taste sweet but is in fact light, slightly ripe and fruity with a hefty umami and savouriness. In comparison to my second favourite miso, Hatcho (which resembles a solid block of tar), it is sweet, but unless you’re a miso connoisseur then you might just think it tastes like regular miso with less salt. Paired with an unpasteurized, unfiltered cider vinegar, this sauce makes a wonderfully simple, savoury and acidic addition to any fried goodies.

This recipe doesn’t use the broad bean pods but please don’t throw them away. Once you’ve removed the tough ends and stringy fiber, they make beautiful fried crisps. Make a quick batter out of 1 part self raising flour to 2 parts beer with a pinch of seasoning, coat the pods liberally and drop them into a frying pan with 0.5cm of sunflower or rapeseed oil. Fry until crispy and brown, then leave them on a paper towel for 30 seconds to dry any excess oil. This stage is important as there are two key reasons why fried food ends up greasy. The first is if the oil isn’t hot enough then the batter won’t form a a crispy shell quickly enough and will start to absorb more oil. The second is as the food cools it draws in any oil remaining on the surface of the batter. So dabbing it quickly enough will prevent this and preserve some extra light crunchiness.

Bean, Miso and Sour Tofu Recipe
Side for 2

• 280g French beans

• 280g Broad beans

• 70g Sweet white miso

• 30g Cider vinegar

• 10g Honey / maple / date syrup

• 30g Sour tofu

• Salt and pepper

Step 1.

Shell, top and tail your beans and chuck them in a frying pan over a high temperature with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt. Toss them around from time to time but don’t over handle. We want them to begin to crisp up without steaming the freshness out of them. Take this time to mix your miso, vinegar and sweetener of choice in a small pot.

Step 2.

When your beans look like the image above, add the miso sauce to the pan and give it a quick stir. The sauce will instantly start to bubble. The moment this happens, plate up and crumble the sour tofu or feta over the top with extra seasoning and cracked black pepper.

Fermented Tofu Recipe
Preserve

• 450g Firm tofu

• 350ml Water

• 1 tbsp Sugar

• 65ml Rice vinegar (Mirin)

• 50g Non-iodized salt

Step 1.

Chop your tofu into 2cm blocks and pop it in a pan of boiling salted water. Boil for 4 minutes until it is firm, then carefully remove them and place it between two pieces of paper towel to dry off. Whilst still between the paper, apply a weight to the top of the tofu to press as much excess water from it as possible without crushing it. Leave like this for 2 hours, then place it in a sterilized lunch box (or, if you happen to have one, on a cheese mat) and leave it ambient and out of direct sunlight for 3 days.

Step 2.

During this time, the tofu will start to smell of a funky fermented odor. It may being to develop white or blue mold and turn a generally rusty, orange colour. All these are perfectly fine and not a sign of spoilage. If you spot black mold then discard and start again. Anything else can be scraped off with a knife.

Step 3.

When your tofu is happily fermenting, add the salt, sugar, vinegar and 50ml of the 350ml of water to a saucepan and heat it enough to dissolve all the solid ingredients. Remove it from the heat and add the remaining 300ml of water to cool the mixture.

Step 4.

After removing any visible mold from the tofu, pop your tofu into a sterilized jar and pack it in tightly enough to avoid any pieces coming free and floating. Pour your fermenting brine over the tofu to completely submerge it. Fasten the lid on the jar and return it to it’s dark, ambient corner for another 3 weeks. During this time it will fully ferment and the brine will turn more cloudy. It will be ready to eat in 3 weeks but will continue to get more and more pungent the longer it is aged.

Once opened, store in the fridge and consume it within a week. Personally, I have kept lacto-fermented foods like this for months in a fridge after opening, but this is only advisable if you’re familiar with the signs of spoilage in fermented foods.