Steamed Buns with Honey Barbecue Tofu

Inspiration can hit you in the strangest ways.  I was digging through my freezer for some frozen veggies when I stumbled upon on some frozen Chinese buns that I purchased when I made Momofuku's pork belly buns last summer.  I also had a package of extra-firm tofu in the fridge, and I got a crazy idea to make baked honey barbecue tofu as a filling for steamed buns.

I started out by carefully draining a package of extra-firm tofu.

I cut the block of tofu in half length-wise and then thinly sliced the tofu into squares.  I pressed the tofu using my standard hand towel, dishcloth, cutting board and heavy item (in this case, a Dutch oven) method, and let the tofu press for about forty-five minutes until the moisture was drawn out of the tofu.

While the tofu was being pressed, I decided to whip together some quick pickles to go along with the steamed buns by slicing up one small cucumber and combining it with a tablespoon each of white vinegar, sugar and salt.

When the tofu was ready, I gently placed the tofu in the pan in one single layer.  I generously brushed on Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue sauce onto the tofu.

I put the pan in the fridge to marinate the tofu for about fifteen minutes before turning the tofu over and brushing on more sauce on the other side.  After another fifteen minutes in the fridge, the tofu was finally ready for baking.  I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees.  When the oven was ready, I moved the tofu onto an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet coated with baking spray. 

I put the baking sheet in the oven to cook the tofu for twenty minutes before flipping the tofu over and baking for another twenty minutes.

While the stove was pre-heating, I also put a large pot of water to boil with a vegetable steamer shelf in it.  When the water was boiling, I put the frozen buns on the steamer to allow them to steam until soft and fluffy.

When dinner was ready, I put slices of the baked honey barbecue tofu in the steamed buns and served with a side of quick pickles. 

This Asian and barbecue inspired dish was definitely one of my more creative dishes and I loved all of the great flavors in these steamed buns!  I loved the contrast in flavors from the sweet barbecue sauce to the sharp quick pickles.  The steamed buns were soft while the baked tofu was a bit chewy and almost meat-like in consistency.  Somehow all of these flavors came together nicely in each bite!  I had two of these steamed buns for dinner and found it really filling.

Tell me, what is the most interesting dish you've made or eaten lately?