Tofu Meatloaf (Wheat-Free)
豆腐のミートローフ（小麦なし）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
This meatloaf stretches ground pork with crumbled firm tofu, which keeps it light, soft and easy for small children to chew. Potato starch holds the mixture together in place of breadcrumbs, so there is no wheat in the loaf itself. It is baked in one piece, sliced, and served with a little ketchup, which is usually all the encouragement kids need to clean their plates.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 18 gonion
- 48 gfirm tofu
- 48 gground pork
Seasonings
- 1.5 gvegetable oil
- 4.5 gpotato starch (katakuriko)Japanese potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating fried foods. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness.
- 0.3 gsalt
- to tastepepper
- 4.5 gketchup
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- potato starch (katakuriko) (かたくり粉)
- Japanese potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating fried foods. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness. Read the guide: Katakuriko (Japanese Potato Starch) and What to Use Instead → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/katakuriko-potato-starch/
Directions
- 1
Finely chop the onion. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion well.
- 2
Tip the tofu into a colander to drain off the water, then transfer it to a bowl and crumble it by hand as finely as you can.
- 3
Add the sautéed onion, ground pork, potato starch, salt and pepper to the tofu and knead well until thoroughly combined.
- 4
Place the mixture on a baking sheet and shape it into a rounded loaf, flat on the bottom and domed on top like a kamaboko fish cake. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F) for about 30 minutes.
- 5
Once baked, slice the loaf and serve with ketchup.
The loaf spreads sideways and flattens as it bakes, so in step 4 shape it a little tall (about 5 cm high as a guide) and on the narrow side.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 174 kcal | 348 kcal | 174 kcal |
| Protein | 12 g | 24 g | 12 g |
| Fat | 12.1 g | 24.3 g | 12.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 7.1 g | 14.1 g | 7.1 g |
| Fiber | 1 g | 2.1 g | 1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.5 g | 0.9 g | 0.5 g |
| Calcium | 51 mg | 102 mg | 51 mg |
| Iron | 1.2 mg | 2.4 mg | 1.2 mg |
| Potassium | 237 mg | 474 mg | 237 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 174 kcal | 12 g | 12.1 g | 7.1 g | 1 g | 0.5 g | 51 mg | 1.2 mg | 237 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 348 kcal | 24 g | 24.3 g | 14.1 g | 2.1 g | 0.9 g | 102 mg | 2.4 mg | 474 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
