Tofu is one of those staples which is always available in my refrigerator. We try to create so many recipes with it and most of the time, our dinner-making is a breeze with just this vegan and wonderful ingredient.
I was not always a tofu lover, yes it's true. A few years back my family used to go to this particular restaurant, and the food was awesome there.
They were particularly crazy for a dish made of tofu, but believe me, they never got me to taste it because I did not like tofu.
When I started making tofu for my family, I thought about what I don't like about tofu. It was a silky, slimy texture, so to make it crispy, I pressed the tofu and baked it/shallow fried it to make it crispy.
Boy, it turned out good and I started eating this. So, nowadays, I am doing lots of experimenting with tofu and because of that, I have quite a few recipes for this. I just have to compile it.
This recipe is one such recipe that is crazy good. You will lick your fingers and plate after making this, I can assure you.
Why is Pressing Tofu Important?
Tofu has a lot of water content, and if you are not pressing it, it will make your dish a little watery. The tofu will feel slimy and you won't be able to taste the real flavors that the tofu absorbs.
So, now the question is- how to press tofu? There are many good quality tofu presses available on the market, but a good hack is to press them with a heavy object wrapped in a kitchen towel/paper towel. Leave it for at least 30 minutes and your tofu is ready to use.
Ingredients We Need to Make Spicy Garlicky Tofu
Tofu--I like extra-firm tofu because it retains its shape. You can use any tofu of your liking.
Corn starch, Red Pepper Flakes, and Salt are the other ingredients required to make Shallow Fried /Baked Tofu.
Soy Sauce, Red Chilli Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, and Brown Sugar are required to make the sauce.
Green Onion, Oil, Sesame Seeds, Corn Starch, Black Pepper, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, and Green Chillies are needed to complete the dish.
There is no hard and fast rule regarding the making of the sauce. You can easily alter it according to your taste. Making it very spicy, less spicy, or Keeping it on the sweeter side is a breeze. Just play with the sauces.
How to Make Spicy Garlicky Tofu
Make equal-sized cubes of pressed tofu. Add cornstarch, salt, red pepper flakes, and a little ginger garlic paste and shallow fry in a pan. Alternatively, you can bake this at 375 F for around 10 minutes. Sometimes, I air fry these as well. It's easy and gives much crunchier tofu than the oven.
We will make the sauce by mixing a few other sauces. Chopped ginger, garlic, and onion are needed as well. Green chilies will make this dish quite flavorful, however, if you do not like spicy food, you can skip it.
What to Serve With Spicy Garlicky Tofu
You can serve Spicy Korean Style Soba Noodles ,Veg Cantonese Style Noodles, Stir Fried Veg Noodles, Veg Thai Fried Rice, Veg Fried Rice, or plain white rice with this Spicy Garlicky Tofu. You can even eat them wrapped in lettuce leaves.
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/benefits-tofu
New Recipes
Spicy Garlicky Tofu
Ingredients
- 12 Oz Extra Firm Tofu
- 1 Tbsp Corn Starch
- 1 Tsp Avocado oil /olive oil
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Ginger -Garlic Paste
- 1 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
For Making The Sauce
- ¼ Cup Minced/Chopped Onion
- 1.5 Tbsp Minced /Chopped Garlic
- 1 Tsp Chopped ginger
- 1 Tsp Chopped Green Chillies(optional)2
- 2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Red Chilli Sauce(You can reduce the quantity)
- 1 Tsp Brown Sugar(you can replace with honey or maple sugar)
- 1 Tbsp Oil /Butter (you can reduce the quantity if you want)
- 1 Tsp Corn Starch
- 2 Tbsp Water
For Garnish
- ¼ Cup Chopped Green Onion
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
Instructions
How to bake ,Air-Fry ,Shallow Fry the Tofu.
- Cover tofu between thick layer of paper towel and press it with a heavy object. Keep it just like that for 30 minutes.
- Make cubes of tofu with the help of a sharp knife.
- Coat tofu with corn starch ,ginger garlic paste, red pepper flakes, salt and one tsp of oil. .Make sure your coating is even.
How to Bake Tofu
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Arrange tofu in single layer and bake it for 15 minutes or till they look crisp. Your time can vary depending on your oven .Please keep an eye on your tofu.
How to Air Fry Tofu
- Arrange tofu in single layer and bake on 370 f for 5-7 minutes .If your air fryer is small ,do it in two batches. Its quick and my favorite method .
How to shallow fry Tofu
- Heat a pan .Add two tbsp of oil to it.
- Shallow fry tofu in two or three batches till they look light crisp.
How to Make Sauce
- Take a bowl .Mix Soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, red chilli sauce ,brown sugar, water and corn starch together. Whisk it to make it lump free.
- Take a Wok. Heat it .When its hot enough add onion ,garlic to it . Stir it on medium flame till it looks light brown .Add ginger and green chilli. Saute it on medium flame for 1 minute.
- Now add tofu in it. Saute it for one minute.
- Now add sauce mix to it and let it cook on medium flame for 1-2 minute. Stir it in between .
- Switch off the flame and garnish with sesame seeds and green onion .
- Serve it with noodles ,rice or salad .
- Enjoy.
Note-If you want your sauce little on the liquid side, please add 1 tsp of starch in ¼ cups of water. I like mine with just enough sauce to coat tofu.
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That tofu looks delicious!
Thank you so much.