To continue my ongoing crusade to bring everyone to the dark side, (the dark side being liking tofu) today I’m going over my favorite and most-used way to prepare it: pan frying. Cut it up into little cubes—or triangles, if you’re feeling fancy—fry it up, and some sauce and rice and a vegetable, and you’ve got yourself a relatively easy and healthy meal. Although I have a bunch of variations of Asian-inspired sauces that I use for this, today I decided to take on everybody’s favorite: orange chicken. This is the one dish that for some reason, no matter how popular it may be, I can never find as a tofu-alternative at Chinese restaurants. Trader Joe’s makes an excellent version, but their nuggets aren’t straight tofu and let’s face it: Trader Joe’s has excellent frozen meals, but their price tag definitely classifies them as a treat, at least in my book. This recipe is fairly straightforward and will hopefully produce something to satisfy the craving at a lower price point.
Ingredients:
1 block tofu
Zest from 1 orange
Juice from 1 orange
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger or ginger powder
2 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt
½ Tbsp coconut oil or another high-heat oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
Step 1: Press
Last time, I talked about how it actually is important to press your tofu, even if sometimes that extra step feels like a lot. For those days that pressing your tofu is added time that you didn’t budget for, there’s a trick I learned from Tasty that has definitely saved me on more than one occasion. For this, wrap your tofu in paper towels as you would if you were pressing it like usual, but instead sandwich it in between two microwave-safe plates and microwave it for 30 seconds to a minute, depending on how powerful your microwave is. It’s not quite as effective as normal pressing, but it at least cuts down on some of the moisture.
Step 2: Prep
In a small bowl, combine zest, juice, soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar, and salt. Set aside. Before cooking your tofu, cut it into your desired size and (very gently) toss with about a tablespoon of cornstarch. Although this isn’t required, the cornstarch helps the tofu crisp up really nicely without requiring any sort of deep-frying. Cornstarch is super cheap, and a little goes a long way, so I personally think it’s worth the investment. If you forget to add it in, however, don’t add the cornstarch once your tofu is already in the pan. It’ll combine with the liquids and create a weird bubbly consistency that prevents the tofu from cooking quickly.
Step 3: Cook
In a nonstick pan over medium-high heat, preheat your coconut oil. Add in the tofu and cook on each side until lightly browned, flipping occasionally to maintain consistency. Once you’re satisfied, add in the sauce and stir until the tofu is coated. Turn the heat to medium-low and allow to thicken until it’s at your desired consistency.
Step 4: Serve
At this point, you can put the tofu and some of the sauce over rice or add some pre-cooked veggies to the mix and proceed from there. My favorite is jasmine rice and broccoli, but it’s pictured here with fresh baby bok choy, which was also delicious. Enjoy!
(Next time: for our final installment, we’ll be taking a look at my favorite recipe to date, which is just a step up in prep work but even easier to cook. Stay tuned!)
Image Sources: All images belong to the author