TERIYAKI TOFU
Teriyaki Tofu is one of my family’s favorite Vegan Asian Foods. Once cooked, the tofu’s texture would have its perfect amount of crispiness, with the flavor of Teriyaki Sauce seeping into the tofu. Cook this restaurant-style recipe in less than 30 mins – easy & quick dinner! (Vegan - Gluten-free - Kid-friendly)
Ingredients
FOR THE TERIYAKI SAUCE
- 100 g Light Soy Sauce
- 40 g Mirin
- 50 g Light Sugar
- 15 g Garlic , chopped
- 20 g Ginger , sliced
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
FOR CRISPY TOFU
- 300 g Firm or Extra Firm Tofu
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Sea salt
- 50 g Cornstarch or Potato Starch
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
GARNISH
- 1 teaspoon White sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon Coriander
Instructions
MAKE THE TERIYAKI SAUCE
- Add olive oil to the pan on medium-high heat.
- When the pan is hot, continue adding chopped garlic and slices of ginger and cook until lightly turn brown (but not burn). This step will bring up the flavor of fresh garlic and ginger.
- Add soy sauce, mirin, sugar to the pan and bring to a simmer, stirring all the while until the sauce thickens.
- Adjust seasoning to taste then turn off the heat.
PRESS THE TOFU
- Cut the tofu into 0.5-inch-thick slices.
- Place the tofu slices on a kitchen tower with other kitchen towers on the top of it.
- Use your hand to lightly press the tofu and help the towers absorb all the excess water from the tofu.
- Let the tofu rest for 10 minutes and press the tofu by hand every 5 minutes. Now your tofu is ready to cut into any shapes you like such as cubes or triangles.
MAKE THE CRISPY TOFU
- After tofu is pressed and cut into the shape that you prefer, marinate both sides of the tofu with garlic powder and sea salt to make it more flavorful.
- Cover all sides of the tofu with cornstarch or potato starch. This is the secret to making the tofu super crispy, you don’t want to skip it.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan into medium-high heat and when hot, add the tofu and fry until browned and crispy on both sides.
ADD TERIYAKI SAUCE.
- Clean up your pan to remove all the oil used to fry the tofu before pouring the sauce.
- Cook in medium-low heat until the sauce absorbs and evenly distributes all sides of the tofu. It will take just around 1 or 2 minutes. So keep a close eye on the tofu, you don’t want to burn it.
- Turn off the heat and serve warm with rice, noodle or salad!
Watch How to do it
Zoe's Notes
- Don’t marinate the tofu with Teriyaki Sauce before frying. Read more here
- Make sure you use firm or extra firm tofu for this recipe.
- Press the tofu before cooking. Read more about how to press the tofu fast and easily here.
- Make Teriyaki Sauce in advance? You can make more of the Teriyaki Sauce before and store the sauce in a clean jar. Keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Gluten-free? Make sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce if you want this meal to be entirely gluten-free.
- Store: You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing the leftover tofu. When you freeze it, the amount of water that contains inside the tofu and makes it moister is frozen. After you thaw and reheat the meal, this frozen water will melt and release from the tofu. This is why the tofu gets dry and tough after reheating from the freezer.