Japanese Baked Tofu Steaks with Green Tea Yogurt Sauce

This recipe for baked tofu steaks is a “main course” entry in the So Delicious Dairy Free 3-Course Recipe Contest, submitted by reader Debbie Tsujimoto. For the sauce, she uses dairy-free Cultured Coconut Milk (yogurt) from So Delicious.

The baked tofu steaks are marinated in papaya and then drizzled with the quick vegan green tea yogurt sauce.

Special Diet Notes & Options: Baked Tofu Steaks

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, vegan, and vegetarian.

Author: Debbie Tsujimoto

Ingredients

Extra-firm Wildwood tofu (15 oz block)
1 large ripe papaya
1 8-ounce container So Delicious Dairy Free Plain Cultured Coconut Milk (Yogurt)
1 teaspoon white miso paste
1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
¼ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

Instructions

Pat tofu dry and slice tofu into 4 "steaks" lengthwise.
Cut up papaya and discard seeds. Put fruit into food processor and puree. Add the ginger and puree a bit more. Spread the puree into a rectangular pan (I used a foil pan) and lay tofu on top, then turn over to coat. Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook your rice and set aside.
To prepare the yogurt sauce, use a medium sized mixing bowl and a hand held electric mixer. Blend the yogurt with miso and Matcha tea. Use level 3 or 4 on your mixer to whip it good. If it tastes too bitter, add a bit of Vanilla SO yogurt to add a touch of sweetness. The miso adds a touch of saltiness.
Once the tofu steaks are done, remove from oven, and spoon the papaya puree on top to cover fully as possible.
Use a teaspoon (I used a knife edge) to draw your design onto the tofu, with the yogurt sauce. If I had a squeeze bottle, that would have worked perfectly for this part. Serve over a bed of fluffy white rice on each dinner plate, and put extra sauce into little sauce dishes on the corner of the plates.