It's been a long, long time since I've had corned beef, and I'm sure that this corned tofu isn't the same, texture-wise. But it's freaking delicious in this not-a-Reuben sandwich.
This sandwich is another tofu recipe in my sponsored series from EZ Tofu Press. You definitely need to press your block of tofu well before making corned tofu. You need to make room for the tofu to soak up that delicious, salty marinade! If you don't have one already, you can find the EZ Tofu Press on Amazon.
Corned beef is basically salt-cured beef. To make real corned beef, you cook up a brine and soak meat in it for a couple of weeks. It's a food preservation method. To make this corned tofu recipe, I started with Alton Brown's corned beef recipe and tinkered like crazy.
Here are the things that I changed:
- We are not preserving this tofu, so I treated the brine like a marinade.
- I quartered the recipe, since a block of tofu is normally a pound. His recipe was for 4-5 pounds of meat.
- I skipped some spices that seemed like they'd be hard to find.
The marinade came together super fast, and I think the flavors were just perfect. You can use this corned tofu in the Not-a-Reuben sandwich or anywhere else you'd use corned beef.
This corned tofu sandwich recipe was supposed to use my collard kraut as a topping, but that experiment was a pretty epic failure. BUT! I have confirmation that collard kraut is possible, and I'm going to give it another go armed with new information. I also updated my original post to reflect the advice that my fermenting friends gave me, so I won't forget and so you'll have better information if you want to experiment.
But enough about food fails. Let's make some corned tofu and stuff it into arguably the best sandwich I have ever had.
Corned Tofu for a Not-a-Reuben Sandwich
Ingredients
For the Corned Tofu
- 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- pinch of cloves
- dash of allspice
- 1 bay leaf
- dash of ground ginger
- 1 block extra firm tofu - pressed, then cut into 16 cutlets
For the Sandwich
- 8 pieces good rye or pumpernickel bread or that swirly one that’s half and half
- 4 tablespoons vegan mayo - divided
- ½ cup vegan kimchi - Look out for fish sauce in the ingredients.
- 1 Haas avocado - sliced
Instructions
Make the Corned Tofu
- Add all of the ingredients except for the tofu to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes, until the salt and sugar are all dissolved. Set aside, and let the brine come to room temperature.
- Arrange the tofu in a shallow dish, and pour the brine over it. Leave the tofu to marinate for at least 30 minutes, but if you can wait an hour, even better!
Make the Not-a-Reuben Sandwich
- Divide the mayo between your pieces of bread, and spread it on. Layer on the Corned Tofu, then the kimchi, then the avocado.
- You can serve the sandwich cold or warm it up in a sandwich press. I don’t have a sandwich press, so I went with cold.
Laura Eng
Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm going to try this recipe for my son-in-law today. I am wondering if you ever tried roasting the tofu after marinating it in the brine?
Becky Striepe
I haven't, but that does sound lovely!
Mark G
It is very easy to make vegan kimchi and it only takes a small amount of prep time. I make my own sauerkraut, kimchi, and many other fermented foods.
Here's one recipe that I like. There are a other good ones on youtube as well. Just search.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qisHfpI5QE&index=3&list=PLrIANjxIzEJyTpzb-KU9wjehpo0x54BZw
Becky Striepe
Thank you! I haven't done much fermenting. My kraut attempt didn't go so well, and it made me a little gunshy. I'll try again!
An Unrefined Vegan
Whoa! Must try!
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it! ??
acookinthemaking
That is one gorgeous-looking sandwich! I have only had vegan reubens made with seitan but I love the idea of brining tofu--definitely must try this!
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it! I wish I was eating one right this second.
FoodFeud
Cool! Finally another use for the mustard seeds I bought for who-knows-what purpose.
Becky Striepe
Yay! You can also use them to make pickles, if you have some left.
chow vegan
That is one amazing looking sandwich! And the recipe looks so easy! I know what I'm having for lunch today. :-)
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it! I need to make another batch of the tofu, so I can eat this again this week!
chow vegan
I've been eating this sandwich all week, it's so good! I didn't have any kimchi and just stuck in lettuce but it's still very tasty. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Becky Striepe
Ooh thats good to know. We are out of kimchi, and i thought that meant no sandwich!
Karen D
Just an aside, read the label on the kimchi, as sometimes there is fish sauce as an ingredient.
Becky Striepe
Yes! Definitely. I am lucky that there's a local company here in Atlanta that makes aweome vegan kimchi. I've also seen shrimp paste in other brands of kimchi, though. Thank you for pointing that out, Karen!