Tofu. To be honest we were a little unsure about it when we first decided to go vegan.
‘But it doesn’t taste of anything?’
‘It’s probably not even good for you!’
We had lots of questions and concerns. But ohhhh how we’ve changed.
Nowadays there’s rarely a time when we don’t have one or two blocks ready-to-go in the fridge.
It’s incredibly versatile, it’s full of protein and – if you know how to cook it – it has an uncanny ability to soak up tons of flavour.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about this sticky black tofu. It’s possibly our best tofu recipe yet.
We use a very wet marinade to make sure the tofu soaks as much of the flavour in as possible.
Then we slowly cook the marinade down with orange juice until it resembles a sticky and almost tar-like consistency.
It’s sweet, slightly sour, and has tons of depth.
The things y’all need to know are:
- We use extra-firm tofu that doesn’t require pressing. Depending on the tofu you use, you might need to press it first between kitchen paper and underneath a heavy object.
- It’s importantly you don’t heat the sauce too quickly. Get it on a low heat and stir regularly until it thickens – this will give the flavours time to mingle and you’ll be left with a well better balanced sauce.
- We usually serve this with a simple Asian-inspired coleslaw. Simply finely slice red cabbage, white cabbage and carrots, then soak them in a tbsp of apple cider vinegar, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of sesame oil.
- You don’t need a blender to create the marinade, but we prefer using one so the marinade is super smooth.
Sticky Black TofuSticky Black Tofu. Yaaaaaaas 🖤
Posted by So Vegan on Monday, 16 March 2020
Sticky Black Tofu
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Ingredients
300g / 10.5oz extra-firm tofu- large thumb of fresh ginger (20g / 0.7oz)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 3 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 tbsp cornflour
- vegetable oil
- 160g / 5.6oz jasmine rice
- 120ml / 4 fl.oz smooth orange juice
- 2 spring onion
- 1 green chilli
- small handful of sesame seeds
Instructions
- Press the tofu if necessary. Then slice into 2cm cubes and transfer to a dish just large enough to contain the tofu pieces.
- Peel the ginger and garlic, then add them to a small blender along with the Chinese 5 spice, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and 2 tbsp of water. Blend until smooth. Alternatively, finely dice the garlic and ginger, and combine everything in a small bowl. Pour the marinade over the tofu and give everything a good mix. It’s important the tofu pieces are submerged at least halfway in the marinade. If they’re not, try using a smaller dish. Cover and marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Transfer the tofu pieces to a mixing bowl, shaking off as much of the marinade as possible (keep the marinade because you’ll be using it later). Scatter 3 tbsp of the cornflour over the tofu and use a spoon to mix the cornflour into the tofu, being careful not to break the tofu.
- Heat 3 tbsp of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. As soon as the oil is hot, carefully add the tofu and fry on each side for 3-4 minutes or until the tofu is crispy on all sides. Avoid moving the tofu around too much, otherwise the sticky coating will get stuck to the pan.
- Meanwhile cook the rice as per the packet instructions.
- As soon as the tofu is crispy all over, remove it from the pan and carefully wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper. Return the pan and reduce the heat to low, then pour in the marinade, scooping out as much of the marinade as possible from the dish. Next, mix the remaining 1 tbsp of cornflour in a small bowl with 2 tbsp of water, then pour it into the pan along with the orange juice. Stir the sauce and cook it gently for 10-15 minutes until it thickens into a sticky gravy-like sauce. It’s important you cook it slowly and give it time to cook so the flavours mingle and to remove the bitterness from the garlic. As soon as it’s ready, stir the tofu back in until it’s completely covered in the sticky sauce.
- Add the cooked rice to the bowls, followed by the sticky black tofu and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. Chop the spring onion and green chilli, then scatter over the top. Yum!
