Poke is not something you used to do on Facebook… it’s a salad served raw in Hawaii. From the looks of it, it’s the Hawaiian ceviche and the correct pronunciation is Poke /poʊˈkeɪ/.
When I traveled to Peru, I had delicious tofu ceviche and white mushroom ceviche. Both vegan, and both tasted as authentic as ceviche made with fish. So I decided our Hawaiian ceviche, or poke, would include both tofu and mushrooms. To add more interest, color and crunch, I thought I would include some broccoli florets into the mix.
This is a simple dish with many components coming together. Feel free to make some parts the night before you’re serving this and finish it off the day of with the broccoli and tossing it all together in the marinade. This way the tofu marinates overnight and the broccoli is served fresh – the best of both worlds.
TOFU MUSHROOM POKE
2 blocks of extra-firm tofu
1 pint of cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 bunch of broccoli, florets only cut in half or thirds
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded
2 shallots, finely minced
4-6 scallions, thinly sliced
About ¼ cup Garlic and Herb Seasonings
3 garlic cloves, grated
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup tamari
2 tbs toasted sesame oil
The juice of 2 limes
Salt to taste
- Slice each tofu block in 4 slices. Place slices in a baking sheet lined with 2-3 paper towels. Cover with 2-3 additional paper towels, top with an additional baking sheet and weigh with something heavy. Drain weighed tofu slices for about 30-60 minutes.
- After tofu slices are drained, season liberally with Garlic and Herbs seasoning. Cook tofu slices in a dry non-stick skillet. After you’ve placed them on the skillet, leave them for a while without touching them. The crust they will develop will prevent them from sticking to the skillet and make it easier to turn them. Sear them on both sides. Set aside to cool off.
- Cut each slice of tofu in 12 pieces – cut into 3 pieces on the long side. Cut those 3 strips in half and then those halves in half again. Set aside.
- Mix the marinate in a container with a lid that you can cover and marinate tofu for a while – tamari, olive oil, sesame oil, shallots, scallions, grated garlic, grated ginger, lime juice. Add tofu slices to marinate. Add shredded carrots. Marinate for about 4 hours or even overnight in the fridge.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch broccoli florets for about 1 minute, until they turn bright green. Scoop them out of the boiling water and shock them in a bowl filled with salted ice water. This will stop the cooking and set the bright green color. Working in batches will help you control the blanching process and avoid any over cooking. When broccoli is cooled, transfer to a colander for the florets to drain well and dry.
- About 2 hours before serving, combine marinated tofu/carrots mix with quartered mushrooms, cooked broccoli florets and sliced scallions. Toss well to combine and allow marinate all together. Toss every 20 minutes to make sure all components are marinated.
Serve at room temperature.
If you enjoyed this recipe… you can check out the other dishes we served at the Hawaiian Vegetarian Festival here in a previous post serving as anchor for all the recipes.
KarmaFree Cooking 