If you’ve claimed yourself not a tofu fan, you probably just haven’t had tofu the right way.
I bet you if you had this pan-fried sesame garlic tofu, you would change your tune on tofu!
I have been loving tofu in my dishes lately.
It’s a great source of protein and low in fat.
It’s so tender too and it soaks up all the flavor of the dish.
It’s a great blank slate and super versatile.
Think of it like the vegetarian’s chicken, haha
I mean, kind of is. We add chicken to our dishes to flavor it up and have it soak up the flavors of the dish. Tofu is basically doing the same.
What kind of tofu do you need?
I love getting extra-firm tofu.
If you get soft, it just falls apart completely in the skillet.
How do you get the tofu so crispy? What’s the secret?
You gotta drain it well and cornstarch!
So, kind of like my eggplant parmesan recipe where you pull the liquid out of the eggplant, you gotta pull the liquid out of the tofu.
Tofu comes in a package and it’s just sitting in water.
And like I mentioned above, tofu soaks up all the flavor in a dish so you can imagine how much liquid tofu is soaking up while sitting in the package.
To get the liquid of out of the tofu, you gotta press it.
It’s actually easier than you think; there’s hardly any work at all involved!
How do you press the tofu to get the liquid out?
You start by opening the package of the tofu and then holding the tofu in place, tip the package upside down so all the water is drained.
Definitely do this over a sink!
Then, on a small plate, place two sheets of paper towels on the plate.
Place the tofu on top.
Then place two more sheets of paper towels on top of the tofu.
Find something heavy like a cast iron skillet and place it on top of the tofu.
Let that sit for about 30 minutes but coming back to check on it halfway through and change out the paper towel.
This essentially presses out the liquid of the tofu and gives you a much better way to work with it!
And ensuring it gets crispy and not soggy!
Tips for getting crispy tofu
All the above ways will definitely help to ensure a crispy exterior but also what you use and the method you cook will help too!
First, definitely do the pressing.
Second, coat the tofu in cornstarch.
It’s messy but it’s worth it.
Third, once you get it in the skillet, DON’T TOUCH IT!
As with all things (browning meats, crisping up the bottoms of potstickers, making fall off the bone ribs), leave it alone and let it do its thing.
If you keep moving it around in the pan, it won’t have the time to brown at all.
The simple ingredients in this pan-fried sesame garlic tofu
There are only a handful of ingredients for the sauce that coats this tofu dish!
- Soy sauce
- Sambal oelek (spicy garlic sauce)
- Rice vinegar
- Honey
- Sesame oil
Grab the recipe below and make this pan-fried sesame garlic tofu tonight!
Serve it with a side of rice and vegetables or make a tofu bowl!
Or, pin this recipe and save it for later!
Pan-Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu
Ingredients
- 14 ounces extra firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
For the sauce
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (if you like it less spicy, stick with 1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Place two paper towels on a plate then place the entire block of tofu (drained from its packaging liquid) onto the plate. Place two more paper towels on top of the tofu then put a heavy item on top. Not TOO heavy that it would completely crush the tofu but heavy enough that it can squeeze out liquid.I like using a cast iron skillet.Leave for 30 minutes and halfway through, change out the paper towels.
- Once the tofu has drained, slice in half then into cubes and place into a large bowl. Sprinkle cornstarch on top and gently toss with your hands to ensure all tofu pieces are covered.
- In a large skillet, add sesame oil then bring up to medium-high heat.
- Once oil is heated up, add the tofu to the skillet and let brown on all 4 sides.
- In the meantime, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce.
- Once the tofu has browned and crisped up on all sides, add the sauce to the skillet and it should start to thicken immediately. Toss the tofu around to coat then remove from heat.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
There is an affiliate link in this post.
I’m pretty sure I’ve never said this about tofu, but OMG, this looks delicious! Do you think the leftovers would keep, or would they get soggy? Thanks!
Thank you!! I actually had leftovers in the sense of like 8 hours later (I made them in the morning, saved them to eat in the evening) and they were fine…not super crispy but definitely not soggy either.
The actual recipe ingredients seem to be missing the garlic.
The sambal oelek is a spicy garlic sauce :)
I think THIS tofu would definitely make me love tofu!!
100%!!
sambal oelek doesn’t contain garlic. i’m looking at the ingredients and it’s ground chilis, vinegar, salt, and preservatives. is it possible you mean huy fong chili garlic sauce?
AHH omg, you are right!!! That is exactly what I meant. They’re so similar in packaging that I just thought they were interchangeable names :(
Hi!
Cubes have six sides, not four….:-)….
Lol thanks!
There are 6 sides to a cube, not 4…..
Yes, someone has always pointed that out to me. I haven’t gotten around to changing it in the recipe; it doesn’t affect the recipe in any way that I can’t get my shapes right ;)
This recipe looks great, thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to read more of your recipes! Do you think it’s possible to make my own chili garlic sauce? Then I don’t have to go to the store tonight, and can just start, because my mouth is watering already reading through this! I have the Sambal oelek, and fresh garlic, just don’t know what the proportions would be.
Just add in one finely minced garlic and that should be fine!
Made this dish yesterday for dinner with a side of broccoli and it was a hit!! I followed your directions to drain the liquid from the tofu and it definitely helped make it crispy on the outside. Thanks for the recipe!
So great to hear!
While this appears quite simple, I followed directions, measurements and ingredients exactly. The ‘sauce’ immediately became a gelled, congealed glob in the pan. It didn’t coat the pan-fried tofu at all. Wish I could attach a photo. Flavor is good – just can’t tell what happened to the sauce.
It might be one of two things: your heat is too high and/or too much cornstarch so perhaps reduce the amount of cornstarch in the sauce!
Same thing happened with my sauce – congealed right away! I used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch so I’ll be using less of it (and lower heat) but I really enjoyed the flavour!
Mine came out very salty (:
It was easy and looked great, but too too salty.
I will make it again and use less and low sodium soy sauce.
Other then the salt factor I am sure it will be a hit. Thanks
Yummy! Thanks. Next time I’ll:
-Reduce the soya sauce
-increase the honey
Remember (because I did it this time and it really helped:)
– cube tofu and press in fridge overnight
-heat on me when I added the sauce
-garnish with chives from yard
-invite friend, who is curious about tofu, over to try it!
Thanks.
Oops: Heat on low 🤣
LOL i had a good laugh reading that!