There are plenty of reasons to be excited about this Sweet Sticky Black Tofu. It’s possibly my best tofu recipe yet. I use a very wet marinade to make sure the tofu soaks as much of the flavour in as possible.
Then we slow cook the marinade down with orange juice until it resembles a sticky and almost tar-like consistency. It’s sweet, slightly sour, and has tons of depth.
Tofu! To be honest I was a little unsure about it when I first decided to go vegan.
‘But it doesn’t taste of anything?’
‘It’s probably not even good for you!’
I had lots of questions and concerns. But oh how I’ve changed. Nowadays there’s rarely a time when I don’t have one or two blocks ready to go in the fridge. It’s incredibly versatile, it’s full of protein and – if you know how to cook it – it has an uncanny ability to soak up tons of flavour.
Treat Tofu like a sponge, just put that flavour in there!
The things y’all need to know about this recipe are:
- I use extra-firm tofu that doesn’t require pressing. Depending on the tofu you use, you might need to press it first between kitchen paper and underneath a heavy object.
- It’s important you don’t heat the sauce too quickly. Get it on a low heat and stir regularly until it thickens – this will give the flavours time to mingle and you’ll be left with a well better-balanced sauce.
- I usually serve this with a simple Asian-inspired coleslaw. Simply finely slice red cabbage, white cabbage and carrots, then soak them in a tbsp of apple cider vinegar, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of sesame oil. Or just go for the usual rice!
- You don’t need a blender to create the marinade, but we prefer using one so the marinade is super smooth.
How To Make Black Tofu:
You will need:
1. Soy Sauce
2. Muscavado Sugar
3. Rice Vinegar
4. Chinese Five Spice
5. Garlic, Ginger
6. Olive Oil
7. Tofu
8. Cornflour
9. Orange Juice
The method is simple; you make a sauce, then use that sauce to marinate the tofu. Once the tofu is marinated, it’s strained (but sauce kept) then the tofu is coated in cornflour and fried.
The sauce is then thickened on low heat with some corn starch slurry, then the tofu is added to the sauce. That’s pretty much it! (See full recipe below)
Anyway, let’s make some badass tofu!
Please do let me know how you found this Sweet Sticky Black Tofu, and if there is anything you tried or something that worked better…Do drop me a comment below, or you can find me/ message me directly on Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook! I love seeing what my lovely readers think of my recipes!
More Vegan Recipes:
1. Comforting Vegan Butter Bean Stew
2. Easy Vegan Tomato Dhal With Onion Tarka
3. 25-Minute Vegan Okra Curry
Sweet Sticky Black Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 block/10.5oz extra-firm tofu
- large thumb of fresh ginger 20g / 0.7oz
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
- 2 tablespoons of dark muscovado sugar
- 4 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
- 4 tablespoons of cornflour
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 160 g/5.6oz jasmine rice
- 120 ml/4 fl. oz of freshly squeezed orange juice about 2 oranges
- 2 spring onions To serve optional
- 1 green chilli To serve optional
- Rice to serve optional
- A small handful of sesame seeds to sprinkle on top optional
Instructions
- Press the tofu if necessary, I usually just buy extra firm tofu, so I don't need to press it! Then slice into 2cm cubes and transfer to a dish just large enough to contain the tofu pieces.
- Peel the ginger and garlic, then add them to a small blender along with the Chinese 5 spice, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and 2 tbsp of water, orange juice. Blend until smooth. Alternatively, finely dice the garlic and ginger, and combine everything in a small bowl.
- Pour the marinade over the tofu and give everything a good mix. It’s important the tofu pieces are submerged at least halfway in the marinade. If they’re not, try using a smaller dish. Cover, and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Transfer the tofu pieces to a mixing bowl, shaking off as much of the marinade as possible (keep the marinade because you’ll be using it later). Scatter 3 tablespoons of the cornflour over the tofu and use a spoon to mix the cornflour into the tofu, being careful not to break the tofu.
- Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. As soon as the oil is hot, carefully add the tofu and fry on each side for 3-4 minutes or until the tofu is crispy on all sides. Avoid moving the tofu around too much, otherwise, the sticky coating will get stuck to the pan.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice as per the packet instructions. ( if using later with the tofu )
- As soon as the tofu is crispy all over, remove it from the pan. Return the pan and reduce the heat to low, then pour in the marinade, scooping out as much of the marinade as possible from the dish. Next, mix the remaining 1 tbsp of cornflour in a small bowl with 2 tbsp of water, then pour it into the pan with the sauce.
- Stir the sauce and cook it gently for 5-10 minutes until it thickens into a sticky gravy-like sauce. It’s important you cook it slowly and give it time to cook so the flavours mingle and remove the bitterness from the garlic. As soon as it’s ready, stir the tofu back in until it’s completely covered in the sticky sauce.
- Add the cooked rice to the bowls, followed by the sticky black tofu and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. Chop the spring onion and green chilli, then scatter over the top. Yum!
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