Silken tofu with oolong tea

Inspired by the flavours of different teas, Varuni uses oolong tea to make tofu from scratch. The fragrance of the tea helps to create a balance of flavours created in her tea inspired bento box. Using local gin and dill with fresh oysters from Tasmania, this is a great recipe using some of Tasmania’s best produce.

• serves

  2

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

 "Traditionally, your fancy society ladies and gents might have downed bottles of Champagne with oysters – it’s a match as old as time itself (okay, not quite that old). And being from Tasmania you could certainly happily pair one of the local sparkling pinot noir chardonnay blends with this dish – they’re some of the best examples in the land. However, I’m going to jump on the chance to match the dish with some local riesling. The dryness and crisp acidity mirror the best assets of the sparkling, but in addition you have the subtle spice and floral flavours of the riesling to help pick out the beautiful dressing. It’s like an extra splash of lemon juice on your oyster and who wouldn’t want that?" - Dan Coward

Ingredients

• 250 g organic soy beans
• 4 cups brewed oolong tea
• 1 tbsp liquid nigari (magnesium sulphate) or ½ tbsp nigari flakes

Drink Tamar Ridge Kayena Vineyard Riesling 2010, Tamar Valley, Tas

Instructions

Rinse and wash the soy beans. Leave to soak overnight in plain water.

Drain the beans. Blend the beans with 200 ml of water until it forms a paste. In a saucepan, add the oolong tea to the paste and bring to the boil (approximately 5 minutes).

Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture through a colander lined with cheesecloth. Allow the milk to drain, squeezing the excess liquid out. Discard the solids.

In a saucepan, heat the drained soy milk by bringing to a boil. Then simmer for approximately 10 minutes, allowing the soy milk to evaporate, until the mixture reduces to approximately 600 ml.

Add liquid nigari to ½ cup of cold water. While the soy milk is hot, pour the nigari mix into the milk in three stages, stirring in between. The milk will start to coagulate immediately. Quickly pour into tofu moulds lined with cheesecloth (any plastic container with a few holes can be used so that excess liquid can drain) and allow to set overnight.

Note

• Nigari can be bought from most health food stores.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

 "Traditionally, your fancy society ladies and gents might have downed bottles of Champagne with oysters – it’s a match as old as time itself (okay, not quite that old). And being from Tasmania you could certainly happily pair one of the local sparkling pinot noir chardonnay blends with this dish – they’re some of the best examples in the land. However, I’m going to jump on the chance to match the dish with some local riesling. The dryness and crisp acidity mirror the best assets of the sparkling, but in addition you have the subtle spice and floral flavours of the riesling to help pick out the beautiful dressing. It’s like an extra splash of lemon juice on your oyster and who wouldn’t want that?" - Dan Coward