I am incredibly fond of making vermicelli salad. I've been making it in several different forms over the last couple of weeks. It's more or less a no-fry stir fry with a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables mixed in with tahini, tamari, rice vinegar, and a splash of freshly squeezed lime juice. One of my favorite ways to make this, though, is adding tofu.
A lot of people scoff and turn up their nose at tofu. During the heyday of the vegan food movement in the late 2000s and early 2010s was just inundated with hoards of tofu. It was the quintessential meat substitute. And it was absolutely one of the worst culinary movements in my formative years!
I grew up and still lived in Portland at the time. And Portland is well known for getting on these kind of food fads. It sounds environmentally friendly and it certainly tugs on the humanitarian heart strings! There are some inexcusable practices in the American meat industry, so any movement that curbs that appetite, even in the slightest, is something that I'm there for.
But the way that people at that time were preparing tofu? Was absolutely inexcusable!
Tofu is not meat. You can't just toss it in and prepare it like meat. It's relatively flavorless, oddly textured, and absolutely in no way, shape, or form tastes like meat! So, when restaurants and home cooks suddenly had this meat substitute plopped into their laps? They just started doing the exact same things with tofu that they did with meat! And it didn't work.
It took years and years and years for me to get over how poorly tofu had been prepared. It's now one of my favorite things to make. Tofu's a great textural element to fresh salads and substitute for scrambled eggs.
But tofu is tofu. It's not a steak.
The new wave of meat substitutes that taste kind of, sort of like meat today are a testament to that. It's absolutely time to retake tofu. Because it's delicious and I find myself craving a well-prepared tofu.
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Variations of Vermicelli Salad
Vermicelli salads are my new favorite obsession. I've been making them time and time again. It's a great way to utilize fresh produce and make something fun and interesting. You can easily mix and match in whatever you have on hand or to match your own personal tastes.
This vermicelli salad combines fried tofu, carrots, red bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, ginger, garlic, shallots, tamari, tahini, rice vinegar, and freshly squeezed lime juice. It's a great recipe to mix and match in your own fruits and vegetables to what you have on hand or to your own personal tastes and preferences.
Add about 4 inches of water to a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Cook vermicelli according to the manufacturer's instructions.Vermicelli cooks very quickly. I tend to add the vermicelli and then immediately remove it from heat. Then, go on to prepare the produce. Merely sitting in the once boiling water is sufficient enough soften it enough to eat without overcooking.
Fry Tofu
While the pot is boiling for the vermicelli, drain the water out of the tofu and cut into cubes.
Wrap in paper towels to absorb the moisture.It's important to absorb as much water out of the tofu as you can. Oil is less dense than water, so the molecules repel one another. With cold ingredients, this causes separation. When you're frying at high temperatures, though, this can cause boiling hot oil to spray back at you.
Meanwhile, preheat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
When the skillet has preheated and the majority of the water has absorbed into the paper towels, carefully add the tofu to the skillet. Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Rotate until all sides are evenly fried.
Remove from heat and wrap again in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Assemble Salad
Mince and chop all of the produce and add to a large bowl.
It can help to mix the tamari, rice vinegar, tahini, and lime together in a separate bowl and then mix in. Although this isn't explicitly necessary as long as the tahini doesn't clump together.
Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. I'm quite fond of this dish at room temperature or mixed in with salmon or scrambled eggs. It keeps incredibly well in the refrigerator, though. There's enough sodium and acidity in the mix to last for about a week without the produce browning. The liquid will start to separate and just need stirring before serving again.
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