Ingredients

• 1 head butter lettuce
• 2 limes
• 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white or yellow miso
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 (14- to 16-ounce) block extra firm tofu, pressed if time permits, see notes below
• 3 tbsp neutral oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Toppings (optional):

• sesame seeds, sliced scallions, fresh herbs (mint and cilantro are nice), chopped peanuts or cashews

Instructions

Pull the leaves off the head of butter lettuce, then wash and dry them. Cut the limes in half. (Note: Depending on the size, you’ll need roughly 8 to 10 lettuce leaves.)

In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, stir together the juice of 1 lime (about 3 tablespoons), the soy sauce, 2 tablespoons water, the miso, vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Smash the miso against the side of the cup to be sure it incorporates to make a smooth sauce.

Warm your largest skillet over medium-high heat. If you did not press the tofu ahead of time, working over the sink, remove the tofu from the container, pour out any liquid, and reserve the container. Use your hands to break the tofu into a few pieces and squeeze out as much liquid as you possibly can. This won’t be pretty! It’ll break apart into little bits. That’s perfect, you’re doing it right. When you feel like you’ve squeezed all the liquid you can out of the tofu, place it back in the container it came in. If you did press the tofu ahead of time, crumble the tofu into a medium bowl.

Add the oil to the super hot skillet. When it shimmers, add the squeezed, crumbled tofu in an even layer and let it sit, undisturbed, for 3 minutes. Give it a stir, then let it sit for 3 minutes more. It should start to look crispy and golden brown at this point. Keep going with this stir-and sit pattern once or twice more, adding more oil to the pan as needed, until the tofu is crispy all over (9 to 12 minutes total). Add the sauce and stir rapidly until it’s all absorbed into the tofu, not even a minute. Turn off the heat.

To serve, fill the lettuce leaves with the crispy tofu and any of the suggested toppings. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lime over top just before eating.

Chef’s Notes:

I find that the tofu browns up a little easier if you press it ahead of time. You absolutely do not have to press it ahead of time, so don’t let this deter you — again I have made it several times without pressing it — but if you have the time, press it. I like to wrap my block in a clean dish towel, set it on a cooling rack over a tray, and weigh it down with a 28-ounce can of tomatoes set in the container the tofu was packaged in. Let it sit for 30 minutes or more.

Honey: To make this vegan, replace the honey with maple syrup, agave or brown sugar.

Recipe from Alexandra’s Kitchen