Pan-Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu
I am not sure why I chose this recipe. I already have a fried tofu process that we all really like and that works well. Maybe it's the four blocks of tofu waiting to be used that forced my hand. We will never know.
Since I was making the sourdough discard scallion pancakes, I thought this dish would go well with that. Here's today's cast.
Firm or extra firm tofu is best when you are frying. Whatever you use, make sure you press out all the excess water. I lay the tofu on a rimmed pan lined with paper towels.
Then I covered the tofu with more paper towels, added a second tray and then put something heavy on top of that. You want to make sure the tofu is being pressed evenly so using the pan really helps. Center the heavy object, too.
While the tofu was being pressed, I mixed up the sauce. The recipe called for a chili garlic sauce, which I didn't have on hand. I substituted Thai sweet chili sauce and supplemented it with chopped garlic.
I doubled the sauce ingredients as I had twice as much tofu as the recipe called for. Remember the OXO dressing shaker from an earlier post? This is the smaller size. They're awesome.
After about 15 minutes, I changed out the paper towels. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the paper towels are completely soaked. Back under the pan they go for about 15 minutes more.
The tofu was cubed and tossed with cornstarch. I didn't like this step; when I do my fried tofu, I roll each piece in cornstarch so it's completely coated. But the recipe said do it this way. So I did.
I disagreed with the recipe here, too. It called for 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to fry one block of tofu. I knew it was going to stick, especially since it said to use a cast iron pan and not a non-stick one. But the recipe said to do it this way. So I did. Again.
I fried half the tofu at a time and sure enough, it started sticking almost immediately.
This is what was left in my pan once I removed the first batch. Yeah, the tofu isn't going to be crispy when it's coating is still in the pan! So I stopped listening to the recipe.
For the second batch, I added the amount of oil I thought was need to ensure a good crust and lo and behold! It worked. Then I dumped the first batch in, added the sauce and mixed everything around.
The sauce did exactly what it was supposed to do, it thickened up almost immediately so it provided the perfect coating for the tofu and seasoned it thoroughly.
The guys really liked this one and I did, too! Chris said he even kind of liked the bits of coating that came off and added texture to the tofu itself. That may be so but I think anyone who never made fried tofu before would be discouraged by the cooking technique and would possibly not try it again. I will stick to my own way of frying tofu next time but I will definitely use this sauce. So 3 turtle rating for the tofu preparation and 5 for the sauce!
Since I was making the sourdough discard scallion pancakes, I thought this dish would go well with that. Here's today's cast.
Firm or extra firm tofu is best when you are frying. Whatever you use, make sure you press out all the excess water. I lay the tofu on a rimmed pan lined with paper towels.
Then I covered the tofu with more paper towels, added a second tray and then put something heavy on top of that. You want to make sure the tofu is being pressed evenly so using the pan really helps. Center the heavy object, too.
While the tofu was being pressed, I mixed up the sauce. The recipe called for a chili garlic sauce, which I didn't have on hand. I substituted Thai sweet chili sauce and supplemented it with chopped garlic.
I doubled the sauce ingredients as I had twice as much tofu as the recipe called for. Remember the OXO dressing shaker from an earlier post? This is the smaller size. They're awesome.
After about 15 minutes, I changed out the paper towels. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the paper towels are completely soaked. Back under the pan they go for about 15 minutes more.
The tofu was cubed and tossed with cornstarch. I didn't like this step; when I do my fried tofu, I roll each piece in cornstarch so it's completely coated. But the recipe said do it this way. So I did.
I disagreed with the recipe here, too. It called for 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to fry one block of tofu. I knew it was going to stick, especially since it said to use a cast iron pan and not a non-stick one. But the recipe said to do it this way. So I did. Again.
I fried half the tofu at a time and sure enough, it started sticking almost immediately.
This is what was left in my pan once I removed the first batch. Yeah, the tofu isn't going to be crispy when it's coating is still in the pan! So I stopped listening to the recipe.
For the second batch, I added the amount of oil I thought was need to ensure a good crust and lo and behold! It worked. Then I dumped the first batch in, added the sauce and mixed everything around.
The sauce did exactly what it was supposed to do, it thickened up almost immediately so it provided the perfect coating for the tofu and seasoned it thoroughly.
The guys really liked this one and I did, too! Chris said he even kind of liked the bits of coating that came off and added texture to the tofu itself. That may be so but I think anyone who never made fried tofu before would be discouraged by the cooking technique and would possibly not try it again. I will stick to my own way of frying tofu next time but I will definitely use this sauce. So 3 turtle rating for the tofu preparation and 5 for the sauce!
Here is the promised link:
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