Miso glazed num nums

Ah miso, such a rare, misunderstood, mysterious thing you are.  Frequently found in the dairy section or hiding in a cooler in your neighborhood health food store,  I love you and I want to share my love with everyone!  Here is a little something I made last night (much to the delight of my darling boyfriend, whom we shall call Monkey to protect his identity.)  Since this is cooking and not baking, the exact measurements are much more flexible so feel free to add, subtract or mess with as you see fit.  That's exactly what I did and this is what I came up with:

Miso Glaze from Whole Foods Market website (the actually recipe was "miso glazed catfish and bok choy" but I"m not the biggest catfish fan, being a dedicated follower of salmon, so I took some of these ideas and ran!)

What I used and you may need, if you make this like I did.  This fed two very hungry people, and there was enough left for lunch for two less hungry people.

3 bunches baby bok choy (or one large bunch of regular bok choy)
1 lb (ish?  1 pack?  Whatever.) of extra firm tofu.  I let it sit between a few sheets of paper towels and between two plates with two heavy jars on top of it, to force out any excess water.  Once again, whatever you want.
10 or so shiitake mushrooms (because I LOVE them)
1 bunch of scallions.

For the Miso glaze:

2 tablespoons oil (I used olive)
3 tablespoons white miso (like the picture above)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons warm water

Whisk these four ingredients together.  Slice tofu into thin, wide strips, and place into a baking dish.  Brush half of the glaze onto the tofu, making sure to coat and get both sides, and set aside.

While the tofu is lounging in it's own yumminess, saute scallions and mushrooms in a little olive oil.  Add baby bok choy (chopped up into a manageable size) and a little bit of water. Cover and let steam for 3-5 minutes, or until the bok choy is done just enough to your liking.  Add the remaining glaze and mix in.  Turn down and let simmer while you go back to the tofu.

Now, I will say in retrospect, I will choose to bake the tofu in the baking dish because Monkey and I decided that the tofu was a bit oily because I chose to fry it.  Nonetheless, it was yummy and you do what you want.  So I fried it on a high heat, turning it over after 3 or so minutes on each side.

So it was really yummy, and I can only imagine it would have been yummier still if I had a) let the tofu sit in the miso glaze even longer or b) baked the tofu which would have burnt off less of the glaze so there would have been even more to spoon over the finished product.  I also served it over brown rice, which I'm assuming all of you fine folks can figure out how to make (hint, follow the directions on the box.)  In any case, this was a really well played experiment!  Monkey loved it and said this one of, if not my best meal experiment yet!  And if Monkey is happy, than by golly so am I.  So take away from this, that miso is SUPER yummy, and a really great addition in stir fry recipes.  And now for the final product!

Miso Num Nums

Editors note:  I made this dish again because I've been craving it ever since try number once, only this time I baked the tofu in the miso glaze at 300 for 45+ minutes.  AW, MAN it was EVEN BETTER than the first time!  I had never tried baking tofu before and I could see this being an awesome and healthier way to enjoy tofu, as opposed to frying it (when I often tend to fill the house with smoke anyways, so perhaps it's best I stick to the oven for this dish.)  I would imagine any kind of marinade and tofu, baked at a low heat for a long time, will undoubtably be yummy.  Anyway, I am once again full and happy, and that's kind of the point of it all, am I right?