My soul brother Doug Cobb taught me all I know about tofu. I buy the firm or extra firm, then I freeze it, thaw it, then gently squeeze the excess water out of it between two plates. For this recipe, I cut it into cubes, since I want a crispy crunch on all sides. I marinated it for an hour last night, then drained it (save the marinade for your sauce.) I coated the cubes with a mixture of equal parts cornstarch and panko bread crumbs, with about 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast flakes added for cheesiness. Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes in a metal pan (sprayed with olive oil Pam) on a lower rack in the oven. Then spray the tops with more Pam, turn and let brown another 3-5 minutes. The bigger the chunks, the longer the cook time. Keep an eye on it and turn when top is brown. If I cut them thin, 7 minutes each side is long enough to make them crisp. If I cut fat slabs, they might take 13 minutes to crisp.
You can also heat 2 tbsp of coconut oil in a nonstick pan and laid the breaded cubes in the hot pan. On medium heat, let each side of each cube turn golden brown before flipping it over. Stirring them too quickly will prevent getting that crunchy crust that I want.
Remove the crispy tofu and drain it while you add veggies strips to the pan. Do NOT add veggies with the tofu in the pan unless you want to take the crunch away. Cook the veggies separate and THEN add the tofu when you serve it. Last night I added half an onion, half a red pepper and some sugar snap peas. Add the marinade mixture back in to make your sauce. Here’s the marinade…
The marinade:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp Sriracha chili sauce
1 tsp apricot preserves
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
Combine all the ingredients into a ziplock bag and add the tofu cubes. This is good soaking overnight, or even just for just an hour.