Aloha Marinated Tofu Burgers

Where I live is paradise to me - gorgeous virgin beaches, redwood forests and lushness all around, small artistic and intelligent community, bike friendly and environmentally minded. On top of all that, we have an incredible local food economy, everything from great local produce to local corn chips, salsa, breads, cheeses and tofu. Yup, we have a local tofu producer and they make lots of great marinaded tofu products. So inspired by their aloha marinaded tofu I made this burger.

I bought Tofu Shoppe's plain tofu and put it through some hoops, namely I froze it. Freezing tofu and then defrosting it makes it more chewy and better able to absorb marinades because in freezing and then defrosting the tofu, you remove some of its moisture, more so than just pressing it. It soaks up marinades like a sponge! Of course if you're short on time, you can just press fresh tofu and marinade it for 30 minutes. But if you remember to do the freezing/defrosting process, it does produce a more flavorful burger.

I'm calling this an aloha burger since it has similar flavors to the aloha marinaded tofu that our Tofu Shoppe sells, but its just basically pineapple and ginger that give it that specific flavor. And those are ingredients specifically found in Hawaii.

By the way, in case you actually looked at the picture closely, that is a ceramic Coke bottle which my beau included in the picture which he took, because as he said, "it's a burger!" Love him!

Aloha Marinated Tofu Burgers
(serves 4)

juice 1 lime
juice 1/2 orange
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 inch fresh grated
1 clove garlic, grated
pinch cayenne
1 lb tofu, frozen, defrosted, pressed for 30 minutes and cut into 4 1 inch "steaks"

Combine all marinade ingredients and marinate tofu for 5-10 hours. Drain marinade and heat skillet over high heat. Add just enough olive oil to cover bottom and sear tofu steaks on each side until crisp. Serve on buns with your favorite toppings - lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, etc. Wasabi mayo works well and can be made by adding 1 teaspoon wasabi to 3 tablespoons of mayo or vegannaise.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:

Chinese Sesame Salmon at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Peach Watermelon Gazpacho with Feta Creme at Eats Well With Others
Smoky Eggplant Dip at Smitten Kitchen