Asian Garlic Tofu cooks up crispy with tons of salty, sweet, and spicy flavor. Serve with broccoli and rice for a fantastically delicious vegetarian meal.
My daughter has been a vegetarian for 2 years. Or maybe it has been 3 years. I can’t even remember. Every now and then I like to share some of her favorite things to eat like Orange Cauliflower and Vegetarian BBQ Nachos.
She doesn’t like beans so tofu is a major source of protein for her. I actually really like to cook with tofu and eat it as well. I love that it has a very neutral flavor that lends itself to being paired with all kinds of seasonings and ingredients.
It’s hard to get tofu crispy but it is possible if you start with super firm tofu and wrap it in paper towels (lots of them) and set something heavy on top. I use a cast iron pan (they are so handy!)
The longer you let it sit, the better. And replace the paper towels a few times. They will get completely wet.
A quick marinade in a mixture of Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and a little sugar gives the tofu plenty of flavor.
One more trick to crispy tofu is cooking it in a cast iron pan and heating it well before you add the tofu. Move the tofu around as little as possible. I let it get a nice sear on the bottom and then flip the pieces and let them get a sear on a second side.
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Watch the video below to see how to make Asian Garlic Tofu
Asian Garlic Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 package super firm tofu
- 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic,, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- green onions for garnish
- rice for serving
Instructions
- Remove tofu from packaging. Place about 4 paper towels on a plate. Set tofu on top of plate and cover with more paper towels. Place a cast iron pan or something else that is heavy on top. Let sit 30 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, stir together Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
- Cut tofu into bite-sized pieces. Place in bowl with sauce and toss to coat. Let sit 30 minutes.
- Heat olive oil in a medium cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Once really hot, add tofu. Once nicely seared on the bottom, flip over. Continue to cook until seared on bottom.
- Drizzle with sesame oil and remove from heat.
- Sprinkle with green onions and serve with rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
The pictures have broccoli, but there isn’t any broccoli in the recipe. When do you add the broccoli in? Also, how much tofu? It just says one package, but they come in different sizes.
My tofu is marinating now. Thoughts on cooking in the air fryer vs pan? TIA
I haven’t tried it in the air fryer, but I think it would work really well.
Interested in how this turned out in the air fryer if you tried it!
Absolutely delicious. One of the best tofu recipes I tried. Thanks so much!
Too salty. I feel like I did something wrong. I even used low sodium soy sauce.
If you put extra-firm tofu in the freezer and then let it defrost, you can practically wring it dry. Just squeeze it with your hand. Pat it with paper towels to get whatever liquid isn’t squeezed out. And then it soaks up marinade like a beast. For future reference.
Made this tonight…we all loved it. I used firm tofu, after the weight, the edges had to be discarded because they split. No problem. Cut into pieces, gently dredged in corn starch and gently rolled in marinade which included sesame oil. Marinated for about 3 hours and fried. Crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside. A true winner!
Sooooo delicious! I didn’t even use all the ingredients, such as, I didn’t have fresh ginger which would have made this dish even more heavenly. And, I didn’t use sesame oil at the end, which is another amazing taste. I used couscous sauteed with a whole onion. Used lettuce, mint, spring onion and parsley as garnish. Super tasty.
Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made this 2 times now-both times I used organic extra firm tofu which I pressed between paper towels changing the paper towels once. I doubled the sauce (using low sodium soy sauce) but did not add any sugar. My tofu got a beautiful dark color which I served over brown ice, asparagus on the side. After browning the tofu, I removed it from the skillet, added a tablespoon of peanut butter and poured in about 1/4 cup of gochujang sauce.
This is a really good recipe, one I will make a lot and appreciate Christin for developing it.
Absolutely the BEST!!!
Absolutely the BEST!