Marumi Sushi's tofu steak is made of pure win -- it's a thin brick of tofu that's been lightly floured and pan-fried, then topped with about a pound of mushrooms, onions, and silky sake butter sauce. The mushrooms are amazing. There are about seven kinds on top, including regular buttons, enoki, shiitake, oyster, and cremini. Lightly sauteed, the fungi are tender and the onions are crisp. And the sauce -- oh the sauce -- is slightly sweet, floral with sake, and thickened with butter. It pretty much demands swiping your finger through. For a simple piece of tofu, it's one of my favorite things on the menu. And it's only $7.50.
I decided I would try my hand at re-creating this awesome tofu steak at home. I had to make some concessions right away, however, as I only got my hands on shiitakes and creminis (I didn't like the look of the oyster and enoki mushrooms I found near my house). But the result was damned close. Here's what I came up with.
I started with two packages of extra firm tofu. The first thing you want to do when dealing with tofu is press out the excess water. The blocks sit in those pools for a while, and they basically act as a sponge. So layer the blocks on paper towels on a plate, and put another plate on top. Then top that plate with something heavy -- canned food works great for this. In about 15 minutes, the towels will be soaked and your tofu a little more firm.
Next I seasoned the tofu, then dredged each piece in seasoned flour (just add salt and pepper). If your tofu doesn't come in small blocks like this, cut it no thicker than an inch. You could probably use an egg wash before the flour here, but I decided to leave that out. It would make for a bit fluffier crust.
