I've been doing the previous marinades forever. This new one is first cousin to a good barbecued tofu: piquant, sweet-hot-rich, and scintillatingly tasty. The tofu is baked in the marinade/sauce, which cooks down and coats it, caramelizing them. You'll probably have to soak the baking dish overnight before washing it, but it's worth it. Vary this using fruit juice concentrate instead of honey or sugar, and adding extra ginger, orange zest, or both. For an incendiary smokiness, add chipotle in adobo.

　　

Ingredients

Enough for 12 to 14 ounces of tofu or tempeh

　　1/3 cup natural, unhydrogenated peanut butter

　　1/3 cup tamari or shoyu soy sauce

　　1/3 cup honey, light brown sugar, maple syrup, or thawed, undiluted frozen apple or pineapple juice concentrate

　　1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

　　4 to 6 cloves garlic, quartered lengthwise

　　About 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger (optional)

　　1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste or ketchup

　　1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or 1 fresh serrano or jalapeño pepper, de-stemmed

　　Juice and grated zest of 1 orange (optional, but good)

　　12 to 14 ounces drained, sliced traditional water-packed firm or extra-firm tofu or tempeh

　　Vegetable oil cooking spray

　　

Step 1

1. Combine the peanut butter, tamari, honey, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, chipotle, and orange juice and zest in a food processor and buzz until the ginger is finely chopped.

　　

Step 2

2. To use the marinade, place the tofu in a nonreactive bowl or zip-top bag and pour or spoon this luscious mixture over it. Refrigerate the tofu, covered, overnight.

　　

Step 3

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 375°F and generously spray a nonreactive baking dish with oil (I use an 8 or 9 by 12-inch deep glass baking dish).

　　

Step 4

4. Place the tofu and its marinade in the baking dish, spreading the marinade as needed so both sides of the tofu slices get a good smear of it. Bake, turning once, until fragrant, firmed up, and golden to deep brown in spots with the marinade considerably thickened, about 30 minutes.

　　From Bean by Bean: A Cookbook. by Crescent Dragonwagon. Copyright © 2011 by Crescent Dragonwagon. Published by Workman Publishing.