I can probably count the number of times I’ve eaten tofu in the past couple years on one hand. Sure, there are a lot of recipes that I love that use the stuff (like this one and this one), but I just never really jumped on the soy bandwagon.

So what’s a girl to do when she wants a neutral vegan protein base for recipes but eschews soy because of the potential health risks? Thankfully the good people of Burma have the answer: chickpea tofu.

This dish reminded me of the old math question: how many combinations can you make with __ numbers? Because with just chickpea flour, water and salt you could either end up with French Socca crepes, or this Burmese tofu. And probably plenty of other dishes currently unknown to me.

Use this in place of regular tofu in your favorite vegan or vegatarian recipe, or wait it out for a couple days for a recipe for a punchy Burmese tofu salad that’s packed with plenty of fresh herbs and a kicky garlic, ginger and sesame dressing. It’s worth the wait, I promise.

Burmese Chickpea Tofu

Yield: about 2-1/2 pounds Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes` Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients: * 2 cups chickpea/garbanzo bean flour

* 2 teaspoons salt

* 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional) * 6 cups water, divided