Sweet & Sour Tofu - for Tofu Virgins

I have always wanted to find to recipe for semi breaded tofu because it gets so much more brown and crispy and tastes better that way than just plain 'ol tofu. So last week I went to vegandad's blog: vegandad.blogspot.com
- one of my favorite vegan blogs out there, and found this recipe that turned out suburb!

You will find his recipe below with my notes for you - you virgin tofu cookers out there!!

And note: start rice before you start this recipe. We have a rice cooker at home, but any style of cooking is great - just start it before. Or else you will have topping and nothing to put in on.

INGREDIENTS -

Marinade

- 1 pkg tofu, cubed (I'd recommend the refrigerated very firm kind. It won't fall apart on you. When you slice open the tofu package, drain off all the liquid and then press it between paper towels to get as much of the liquid out as you can. Then proceed to cube.)

- 6 tsp soy sauce

- (2 tsp cooking sherry - I omitted this, I didn't have it so increased the soy sauce to 6 t, like above, if you do have it, cut the soy sauce down to 4 tsp.)

- 1 tsp ground ginger

*You will mix the soy sauce and ground ginger together in a medium bowl, then let the tofu marinade in it. It won't look like enough to cover it all, but it is - just toss it around a bit. You just need the marinade to cover the tofu.

Batter

- Ener-G egg replacer for 4 eggs

- 2 tbsp flour

- 2 tbsp cornstarch

- 1 tsp salt

- oil for frying - I love sesame for asian cooking

*Mix these all up in another medium bowl. Then heat up about 2-3 T of oil (I used sesame oil, always great for Asian cooking) on medium heat in a wok. Wok's are just easier for this kind of recipe. Take about 1/3 of the marinaded tofu and toss them in the batter bowl - gently mix it around to get them covered, and then throw them in the pan with the heated oil. Repeat this until all the tofu is browning in the wok. Once browned take off the heat and dump the now crispy tofu into a bowl and set aside. Then rinse out the wok for the next step.

Sauce

- 1 cup water

- 2 tbsp cornstarch

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup white vinegar

- 2 tsp soy sauce

- 4 tbsp ketchup

- 1 tomato, cut into wedges - I didn't have this, so I upped the ketchup to 4 T. If you have this, cut the ketchup back to 2 T.)

Vegan Dad recommends the following to add:

- thinly sliced red pepper

- thinly sliced cucumber

*I wanted it more like sweet and sour stir fry, so I steamed coined carrots (about 3 chopped), broccoli (about one head chopped up), and diced green pepper (1 medium pepper). You'll want to start steaming the veggies before making the sauce. I'm sure any steamed veggies would rock in this.

You can make the sauce in the wok. Mix water and starch first. Then add in all other ingredients and bring to bubbling. The sauce should go from a light pinkish color to more red. Once thick and ready, add in steamed veggies and tofu and cover them all with the sauce. Dish over rice and voila! Amazing sweet & sour tofu!

Below are vegandad's method. :)

If you have any questions about the tofu or the recipe in general, shoot me an email @ jenniferalene(at)gmail(dot)com. Enjoy! This recipe really kicks butt!

METHOD

1. Mix together marinade ingredients and toss tofu in marinade until coated.

2. Mix together batter ingredients and toss tofu in batter until coated. Fry in 350 degree oil until golden on all sides. Drain.

3. Mix water and cornstarch together and pour into a saucepan. Add sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup and tomato, and bring to bubbling. Add tofu and mix to coat.

4. Garnish with red pepper and cucumber (I didn't have any on hand as you can see) and serve with rice.