Cocoa Jerk Tofu

A while back my mum came over for lunch and found me putting together a cocoa jerk sauce for some tofu.  I felt slightly concerned that she tasted the marinade and told me it was really spicy.  My mum has always loved the bite of chillis far more than me.  If she thought it was hot, chances are I would.

As you can see, in the above picture, there were rather a lot of ingredients.  Yet most of them are store cupboard ingredients.  The only ingredient I didn't have was the hoisin sauce.  So I winged it with some lemon juice, plum vinegar and ume boshi vinegar.

I cooked it in my new casserole dish which makes a handsome serving dish.  The packaging said I should not bake it above 200 C.  Luckily my oven rarely reaches any temperature so I am pretty easy going about such advice.

I served the jerk tofu with roast pumpkin and brown rice.  Below is a tub of it that I took to work.  It was sort of nice but it was so hot that it left me gasping.  I reduced the spicy ingredients slightly but if I make this again I will reduce them even more.  Because I liked it but just found the heat was ratcheted up too far for my liking.  Even E agreed and he usually likes more spice than me.

So there you have my first attempt at a jerk seasoning.  I really liked its darkness if not the spiciness.  I was interested to read Cindy's post about her jerk seasoning that she bought in America and how spicy it was.  So I guess it is meant to be spicy.  The great thing about making these dishes at home is that I can taste all the flavours without too much spice for comfort.  It has taken me years since I first bookmarked a jerk seasoning recipe.  Hopefully it is not so long before I try a jerk seasoning again.

I am sending this dish to Jac for Meat Free Monday, to Choclette for We Should Cocoa, and to Kimmy and Mary Ellen for Healthy Vegan Fridays.

More chocolate savoury dishes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

• Beetroot risotto with chocolate and walnuts (gf)
• Borlotti bean mole with roast pumpkin and silverbeet (gf, v)
• Chilli non carne with lager (gf, v)
• Green apple and white chocolate salad (gf)
• Haggis and cheese mole nut roast with chocolate and red wine gravy
• Mushroom and chocolate risotto (gf, v)
• Pumpernickel rolls with currants (v)  
• Savoury Beetroot, carrot, chocolate and goats cheese muffins
• Strawberry avocado and walnut salad with a chocolate vinaigrette (gf, v)
• Tamale burgers with mole sauce (gf, v)

Cocoa Jerk Tofu
Adapted from Superfoods for Life, Cacao by Matthew Ruscigno via Tastespace

Sauce:
1/3 cup vegetable broth
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup tamari
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons hot sauce (I used sriracha)*
2 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice (or balsamic vinegar)
1 tablespoon plum vinegar (or plum sauce or hoisin)
1 tablespoon ume boshi vinegar
2 teaspoons curry powder*
2 to 3 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste (I left it out)
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper* 
pinch chili powder*

300g hard tofu
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 zucchini
1/2 tomato

Mix together all the sauce ingredients.  Toss through the tofu and vegies and rest for at least 30 minutes.  Bake at 200 C for 30 minutes, turning midway through.

*NOTES: I found this really spicy (and I don't do really spicy) so next time I will reduce the asterisked items.  And I used half a tomato just because I had one there.  A whole tomato or no tomato would be fine.

On the Stereo:
Fallen Angels: Bob Dylan