Charred mushroom & tofu risotto

This is a new version of a recipe I posted years ago.

Ingredients

Serves 2

For the risotto

• ~1.5 handfuls of your favorite mushroom, sliced
• 3/4ths cups of arborio rice, uncooked
• 4-6 cups of your favorite broth (vegetable, chicken, beef, etc.)
• 1/4th to 1/2 cups chopped onion or shallots
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• A handful of peas (optional)
• 1-2 carrots, chopped (optional)
• Chili flakes, to taste (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Small pinch of saffron
• 1/4th cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1-2 tbs butter or margarine (optional)
• 1-3 tbs cooking oil
• 1/3rd cup of a light-colored alcohol or water. I've used white wine and whiskey in the past. Most recipes say dry wine is best. I don't really see a difference.

For topping

• Parsley (optional)
• A few teaspoons of soy sauce
• 1-1.5 handfuls of mushrooms, sliced and seasoned
• 1 handful of firm tofu, sliced thinly
• 1-3 tbs cooking oil

Directions

Cooking the risotto

1. Heat a medium-sized pot with 1-2 tbs of oil at medium-low heat.
2. Add mushrooms, tossing to cover them in oil.
3. Add a pinch of salt.
4. Cover the pot for 3-5 minutes, until the mushrooms' water seeps out.
5. Uncover the pot and continue sautéing for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add onion or shallots, sautéing for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add a pinch of salt.
8. Optionally add carrot, tossing to cover in oil.
9. Add garlic, sautéing for 1 minute.
10. In another pot, heat your broth. (Or, if using bouillon, heat a kettle of water.)
11. Add rice and saffron, tossing to cover in oil.
12. Optionally add chili flakes.
13. Sauté for another 2 minutes.
14. Deglaze with water or wine. Sauté another 1-2 minutes until liquid evaporates.
15. Pour about 1/2 to a whole cup of broth at a time, stirring all ingredients together. The rice will slowly absorb the broth. Pour in more broth as the existing broth gets absorbed. In my experience, you don't need to constantly stir. Stirring a few times every minute or so seems to be fine. Just make sure all the rice is covered by broth and is not sticking to the bottom or corners of the pot.
16. Continue to do this until rice is to your prefer softness level. For me it usually takes about 20 minutes.
    1. While you are cooking the rice, start preparing the garnish (see Cooking the garnish).
17. Remove from heat.
18. Optionally add butter or margarine for creaminess.
19. Optionally add parmesan.
20. Optionally add pepper and more chili flakes to taste.
21. Optionally add peas. It will quickly cook and begin to cool the risotto a little bit so it's ready to eat at a safer temperature.
22. Sample risotto and add salt, to taste.
23. Top with the fried mushrooms and tofu (from Cooking the garnish).
24. Optionally garnish with parsley and more parmesan.
25. Serve, optionally with more pepper, chili flakes, and/or parmesan to top.

Cooking the garnish

1. Heat a pan (cast iron is great) with oil to medium-high heat.
2. Add sliced and seasoned tofu, drizzling with soy sauce on top.
3. Fry for a few minutes until they become crispy. Flip them onto the other side and fry another minute or less.
4. Put the tofu aside and fry and salt the mushrooms, doing small batches at a time so the mushrooms all touch the hot pan and aren't overcrowded.
5. Set the fried mushrooms aside with the fried tofu for final topping with the risotto.