Sweet and Sticky Tofu
Well, it’s the new year and here we all are trying our best to be more healthy.
In all honestly, I’m not normally the kind of girl to do new years resolutions and to do diets or hit the gym. I’m not generally a fan of making huge, sweeping changes, because I find that they don’t always stick. Small changes? I can handle those much better.
I did kinda overdo it in December. There were lots of parties, and an immense amount of cheese (no regrets, though!). I’m dedicating some time this month to trying to figure out what food makes me feel lousy, and I’m doing this thing where I’m basically cutting out anything white: white sugar, white flour, etc, and staying away from processed foods as much as possible. Also, alcohol.
In order for me to be successful at this, I have to be smart and plan ahead. Otherwise, it’s just too easy to grab a bagel at Timmies when I’m hungry.
So I’ve been doing a weekly meal prep and making healthy pre-made/pre-packaged meals that allow me to grab and go. Or if I’m at home, I can easily just heat up in the microwave and eat.
I’m doing things like soups packed with mostly vegetables and beans for protein, hard-boiled eggs, and “bowls” that consist of brown rice, a protein and vegetables. Protein can be either beans or tofu. The problem with tofu is that I always feel like no matter what I do to it, it always just tastes like tofu. So I’m experimenting with different sauces to make it tastier.
I recently got my hands on an interesting new product, flavour-infused soy sauces. They have a plain soy sauce, and three flavoured options: garlic, ginger and siracha. Perfect for Asian-inspired tofu, right? Those are the flavours I would normally infuse into my sauce by using either powdered or freshly-chopped garlic or ginger (or gochujang in the case of the spicy one). But by using the already-infused soy sauces, it’s a shortcut.
If I had an air fryer, I’d probably try doing these in there, but I’m still on the fence about that particular appliance, so I just did these on the stove in my cast iron.
The final result is kind of like a chicken wing; crispy, sweet, salty, sticky. Perfect overtop some rice and some sauteed veg.
Sweet and Sticky Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 block firm tofu
- 1/4 cup flavoured soy sauce of your choice (I used 1/2 garlic and 1/2 ginger)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- splash of sesame oil
- garnish: sesame seeds and chopped green scallions
Method
- Remove the tofu from the package and place on a plate. Put something heavy on top of it, and leave it for an hour.
- Cut the tofu into bite-sized pieces, then toss with 1 tbsp of cornstarch.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small mason jar, and shake well to combine.
- In a frying pan over medium-high heat, heat up a couple tablespoons of neutral oil, like canola. Add the tofu to it, and fry until golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the sauce and stir well. It will thicken very quickly. Toss the tofu well in the sauce to coat.
- Serve atop a bed of rice, and garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onion.