Orange You Glad I Made Crispy Tofu?
Tangy and sweet Orange You Glad I Made Crispy Tofu? with a crispy tofu exterior and flavorful orange sauce.
Tangy and sweet Orange You Glad I Made Crispy Tofu? with a crispy tofu exterior and flavorful orange sauce.
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 package extra firm tofu, drained, pressed, and cut into
- peel from 1/4 orange cut into 1/4-inch strips (no white pith)
- 2 tablespoons agave
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- canola oil (for frying)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch or 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 cups cooked rice for serving
- Carbohydrate 43.2471161074555 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.524672094147936 g
- Fiber 1.9762481328611 g
- Protein 4.85785187868585 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0973647000520174 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving(s) (250g)
- Sodium 661.351718757352 mg
- Sugar 41.2708679745944 g
- Trans Fat 0.177068518936242 g
- Calories 197 calories
Step-by-step
- In a small bowl, mix orange juice through coriander. Set aside.
- Fill a large, heavy-bottomed skillet with 1/2 inch of oil, heat over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a small bowl. Dredge the tofu in the cornstarch mixture by tossing a few cubes at a time in the bowl and removing them onto a plate. Be sure to shake off extra cornstarch before frying.
- The oil is hot enough when bubbles form around the handle of a wooden spoon inserted in the oil.
- Carefully place tofu in the oil and let fry until the bottom is golden and crisp *(don't fiddle with it too much). Flip tofu using a spatula or tongs and fry until the other side is golden and crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat (you could carefully pour out the used oil and wipe out the one used to fry the tofu) and add fried tofu and orange mixture. Let cook until the sauce bubbles down to a thick syrupy sauce. Turn off heat and mix in cilantro. Serve over rice.
Temperature management during the shallow-frying stage dictates whether the tofu achieves a shatteringly crisp exterior or absorbs excess oil and turns soggy. When dropping cubes into half an inch of canola oil heated over medium-high, look for vigorous bubbles to immediately surround the wooden spoon handle as an indicator that the fat has reached the optimal searing zone of approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Scaling this recipe upward for larger households requires careful batch management; overcrowding the pan lowers the oil temperature rapidly and ruins the starch coating.
- Double the liquid components proportionately when multiplying the yield, but do not double the agave immediately until tasting the reduced sauce, as concentrated citrus can turn overwhelmingly sweet.
- Arrowroot functions as a direct one-to-one swap for cornstarch to achieve the same crisp crust, though arrowroot creates a slightly glossier finish on the finished sauce when it reduces.
- Press extra-firm blocks thoroughly for at least twenty minutes using a heavy skillet or commercial press to extract trapped moisture, because residual water will prevent the cornstarch from adhering properly during the dredging phase.
- Drain freshly fried cubes on wire racks rather than paper towels if possible, ensuring steam escapes from underneath and preserves the crunch while you finish reducing the orange juice and coriander mixture in a separate skillet.
Efficient pantry utilization keeps grocery expenses low while delivering bold citrus flavors that rival takeout alternatives. Proper execution relies entirely on patience at the frying station rather than expensive specialty ingredients.
