Smoky Tofu Tacos

I messed this one up. I was following a recipe for Marinated Smoky Tofu from The Feedfeed and did not realize the marinade was super thick. I usually mix my marinades by sprinkling all ingredients directly onto whatever I'm marinating, dry first and then wet, followed by a gentle swirl/shake, but this one is way too thick for that to work. I also had an "achoo" moment adding chipotle powder in place of the suggested pinch of red pepper flakes.

I mixed this up Saturday afternoon and not until Sunday morning decided to add a bit of water and give it another shake to try to better distribute the ingredients. I figured I'd then turn the tofu out onto paper towels before frying it up, which might lose some flavor but maybe also avoid any of the strips being blazingly hot. I didn't actually cook it until tonight, at which time I drained all extra liquid and coated it in cornstarch - which is supposed to increase crispiness when you fry it. I do not remember where I read that and I didn't look it up again so I have no idea whether I used an appropriate amount of cornstarch.

So I was shocked that it mostly came out!

It smelled really good while I was mixing it in the cornstarch, and when I fried it, it did develop a crusty coating - which stuck mightily to the pan. My strips of tofu also broke into pieces, so I will stick to cubes in future. But what I was able to scrape off the pan had a lovely fried cheese texture, and all of it had great flavor.

The plan was tacos: corn tortillas, fried smoky tofu, the apple-enhanced coleslaw mentioned in my Marinated Portobello Grilled Sandwich post, and some thick black bean and corn salsa from Stonewall Kitchen. That last was experimental also; just coleslaw and tofu seems incomplete to me but I wasn't sure what to add.

I took shortcuts and put tortillas on a plate, added salsa, zapped the plate for 30 seconds, and then added tofu and coleslaw. I wish I'd used a lighter hand with the salsa so I could taste the tofu better, but it was quite good! Calling this one an "almost hit". I'll revisit.