Sesame Tofu

I'm trying to get in a habit of posting here more regularly, which is probably a bad idea with the end of the semester rapidly approaching.  I really don't cook much these days, and when I do it's fairly boring.  I did make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving that came out pretty delicious, but it's not post-worthy and I didn't get any pictures. (Recipe here.)

We've been living off of a lot of Shabbos leftovers, basic pasta dinners, tuna, and eggs lately.  It's not that I don't enjoy those dinners from time to time.  It's good to have a break.  But after a bit, it just leaves me feeling kinda "meh" about life.  So every now and then, I get these flashes of inspiration and wreck my kitchen to create a dinner that brings a little spirit back to the table.

Which brings us to Tuesday.  On Tuesday, I stood around wondering what we'd eat for dinner when I remembered two things:

  1. I had a package of tofu in the fridge
  2. I had stir-fry veggies in the freezer
  3. I had a recipe for "fake-out take-out" sesame chicken
  4. I can't count.
So I got to work (not on the math part).  Here's the result:


Note: In the following recipe, there are a few optional ingredients at the end.  This is because I added them all willy-nilly.  The sauce did come out very tasty this way, but you may choose to stick to the original recipe from Iowa Girl Eats.  If you look at her recipe, you'll also notice several technical differences.  That was because I only looked at the ingredients and didn't pay attention to her instructions.  I do think the result was pretty awesome, though.

Sesame Tofu

Ingredients:
  • 1 package of extra-firm tofu, cubed
  • Steamed veggies/broccoli/green beans/whatever you want with it.
  • Rice, cooked according to package directions
  • cornstarch
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp oil for frying
  • 1/2 Cup honey
  • 4 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp apricot jam (optional)
  • 1 tsp red wine (optional)
Instructions:
  1. Mix cornstarch with salt and pepper to taste
  2. Dip tofu in beaten egg, then roll in cornstarch
  3. Fry in oil until crunchy, then dispose of oil.
  4. Mix honey, soy sauce, sesame seeds, garlic(, jam, vinegar, ginger and red wine)
  5. Pour sauce into pan with tofu and simmer, mixing occasionally, until the sauce is reduced by half
  6. Put rice and veggies on a plate and top with tofu and sauce.
  7. Om-nom!

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