Pan-Fried Tofu

Children love this simple tofu dish. A little boy at a barbecue at our house once filled his plate with this fried tofu and exclaimed, “Look Mom, she made kung-fu. I love this stuff. Ask her how to cook this.” Made with mild spice, this tofu is excellent finger food for babies and toddlers. It fits perfectly into a vegetable fried rice or a curried quinoa. One of our standard family dinners while my children were growing up was pan-fried tofu, brown rice, and broccoli.

Ingredients

10-12 oz. nigari or firm tofu
3 tbsp. olive oil
splash of sesame oil (optional)
2 tbsp. soy or tamari sauce (use wheat-free for a no-gluten meal)
1 tbsp. ground ginger (or more to taste)
1 tsp. onion powder (or more to taste)
1 tsp. garlic powder (or more to taste)

Directions

Cut the tofu into chunks either 1 inch square and ¼ inch thick or oblongs about ½ inch thick and 2 inches long. Put the oil into a deep dish frying pan (I use cast iron) and heat on medium-high until the oil smokes slightly. When the oil is hot, add the tofu. It will spatter if it is wet, so you may want to put a lid on the frying pan for a minute until the spattering dies down. Add the soy/tamari sauce, again, it will spatter so be quick with the lid briefly until the spattering dies down. The trick to this dish is to continually stir the tofu so that it doesn’t stick to the pan. Make sure that all pieces are coated with oil and soy/tamari. You may need to add a little additional oil, but do this cautiously so that the tofu doesn’t get too greasy.

When the spattering stops and the tofu is cooking nicely, add the ginger, onion, and garlic and stir them around well.

Experiment with preferred taste to decide how long to cook the tofu. Be sure that it has at least started to brown before serving it (approximately 10 minutes). Some people like the tofu just barely cooked, others like it crispy and nearly burnt.

You can add finely chopped fresh ginger, onion, garlic, and/or sesame seeds while frying the tofu. For those who love spicy food, try adding a few drops of sesame chili oil or Mongolian Fire Oil either while cooking or after removing the tofu from the pan.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!