Anchovy and Tofu Dip

Today’s recipe, Anchovy and Tofu Dip was developed from my recipe Perilla and Tofu Dip. Instead of perilla, I added anchovies to the tofu and whizzed it. Unlike the other tofu dips Anchovy and Tofu Dip is not vegetarian but it is equally tasty.

Last week’s post Deep-fried Horse Mackerel (Aji Fry) is a very long post. Filleting the fish for Aji Fry takes time and required some effort. So, I figured that I should post an extremely easy and simple recipe today to give you (and me!) a bit of a rest. Anchovy and Tofu Dip is an easy tofu recipe. It takes 20 minutes but involves only 5 minutes of actual work. It is also a healthy dip recipe as it is dairy-free.

What’s in My Anchovy and Tofu Dip

There aren’t many ingredients in this dip.

• Silken tofu
• Anchovy fillets in oil (not white anchovies)
• Olive oil
• Grated garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

I used a standard pack of silken tofu (kinugoshi tofu). Its net weight was 300g. For 300g of tofu, you need 30g of anchovies, which is a tenth of the weight of tofu. Easy to remember!

In my recipe I used a mixture of olive oil and the oil from the anchovy bottle instead of using just olive oil. The oil from the anchovy jar is packed with umami.

How to Make Anchovy and Tofu Dip

You need to remove the excess water from the tofu before you use it, otherwise the dip will be too watery. Once you remove the excess water from the tofu, all you do is put them together and whizz.

1. Wrap the tofu in a couple of pieces of kitchen paper for 15 minutes to remove the excess water.
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and whizz until a smooth paste is formed.
3. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl  and serve with vegetables sticks and/or crackers.

You will notice that the method of removing the excess water in today’s recipe is different from the method I used when making Perilla and Tofu Dip.

The ingredients for Perilla and Tofu Dip included liquids such as lemon juice and soy sauce. Therefore, you need to remove more water from the tofu to prevent the dip from becoming too watery.

Today’s dip consists of mostly solid ingredients except for the olive oil. So, I only wrapped the tofu with kitchen paper to absorb the water from the tofu. Using this method, the dip will have a creamy consistency.

What Goes Well with Anchovy and Tofu Dip?

Anchovy and Tofu Dip has a hint of tofu flavour with the right level of anchovy flavour and saltiness.

I think that any vegetables that you eat fresh or blanched go well with this dip. In my photo, you can see cabbage pieces served with it. The sweetness of the cabbage goes very well with the dip. A piece of cabbage also let you scoop a lot of dip!

I also served the dip with home-made flat bread crisps, which are fantastic. Since Anchovy and Tofu Dip is a bit salty, it is best to use non-flavoured plain crackers or chips to serve the dip with.

To make home-made flat bread crisps, I do the following:

1. Using scissors, cut a pice of Lebanese flat bread into narrow pie shapes.
2. Spread the bread pieces on a shallow baking tray.
3. Bake at 120°C / 248°F for 20 minutes.
4. Take the tray out of the oven and transfer the crisps to a rack to cool them down.
5. Store the crisps in an air-tight jar or container.

I occasionally buy a bag of Lebanese flat bread, only to use one piece of bread. Unfortunately, the bag contains 6 large flat breads and I have no use for the remaining 5 pieces. I do freeze them, but I often make crisps so that I can scoop dips like today’s Anchovy and Tofu Dip.

You can keep the dip for a day or two in the fridge. The flavour cannot compete the freshly made dip, but it was still tasty.

Anchovy and Tofu Dip is simpler than Perilla and Tofu Dip, and the ingredients are readily available at any supermarket. It is a healthy dip, with even less calories than Perilla and Tofu Dip!

Yumiko

Print

Anchovy and Tofu Dip

Prep Time

5 mins

Time to remove excess water from tofu

15 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Anchovy and Tofu Dip was developed from my recipe, Perilla and Tofu Dip. Instead of Perilla, I added anchovies to the tofu. It is even simpler and less calories than Perilla and Tofu Dip.

Today's dish does not belong to a meal. So, I listed some dips that I have posted so far for you to compare.

Recipe Type: Appetiser, Snack

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: dips, healthy dips, tofu dips, tofu recipes

Serves: 4

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 300g / 0.7lb silken tofu (note 1)
• 30g / 1.1oz anchovy fillets (note 2)
• 2 tsp olive oil (note 3)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp grated garlic

Serving Suggestion (note 4)

• Carrot sticks
• Cucumber sticks
• Cabbage pieces cut into large bite size pieces
• Lebanese flat bread crisps (note 5)

Instructions

1. Wrap the tofu in a couple of pieces of kitchen paper and place it on a cutting board.

2. Place something underneath one end of the cutting board to tilt the board and position it so that the excess water drains into the sink (just in case). Leave it for 15 minutes.

3. Put all ingredients including the tofu in a food processor.

4. Whizz until the anchovies and tofu are disintegrated. You may have to push down the bits on the side of the food processor jar using a spatula and whizz again.

5. When the dip becomes smooth paste, transfer the dip to a serving bowl. The colour of the paste should be light brown.
6. Serve with the vegetables sticks and crisps.

Recipe Notes

1. It is also called kinugoshi tofu. In Australia, a standard pack of tofu is 300g.

2. I used salted brown anchovies in oil. They are sold in a small jar or a tin at supermarkets.

3. I mixed a teaspoonful each of the anchovy oil and olive oil to boost the anchovy flavour.

4. Anchovy and Tofu Dip goes well with almost any vegetables that can be eaten fresh or are good to eat after blanching. It is also a perfect dip for non-flavoured crackers or crisps.

5. I made Lebanese flat bread crisps at home. Please see the last section of the post which explains how to make them.

6. Anchovy and Tofu Dip can keep 1 or 2 days in the fridge.

7. Nutrition per serving.

serving: 86g calories: 99kcal fat: 6.9g (11%) saturated fat: 1.2g (6%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 2.4g monounsaturated fat: 2.9g cholesterol: 6.4mg (2%) sodium: 424mg (18%) potassium: 143mg (4%) carbohydrates: 1.2g (0%) dietary fibre: 0.8g (3%) sugar: 0.5g protein: 9.7g vitamin a: 0% vitamin c: 0.4% calcium: 18% iron: 11%