Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Awesome Orange Chicken Style Tofu

So easy to make, and you don't even have to have all the ingredients listed. You can pretty much replace any of the vegetables with some other vegetable you have on hand, like bell peppers or asparagus.

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Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 smallish eggplant, chopped
Mushrooms, chopped
2 green onions, minced (just use regular onion if you don't have them)
1/2 C shredded cabbage
Carrots, chopped in long little pieces
Salt
Pepper

Sauce:
3 TBSP orange juice
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP vinegar
4 TBSP light soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar (reduced a little bit if you don't like it too sweet, i just don't pack the sugar very firmly when measuring)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 TBSP Cornstarch mixed with 2 TBSP water

I also like to add ~1 tsp of this Asian chile thing that I got from a Chinese market but I have no idea what it's called because the label is all in Chinese. It has chili flakes and peanuts and it's in oil. Really yummy.

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Directions:
1, If you have a nonstick pan that actually works toss the tofu in the pan on medium heat and cook until the water disappears. this is way easier than having to press the tofu and drain all the water out. As soon as the water is gone add some olive oil and then add the eggplant and garlic. If you have a crappy nonstick pan just add the oil first and try to get as much water out of the tofu as possible and hope it doesn't splatter and burn you.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Once eggplant is almost done add the rest of the ingredients.
4. While that cooks, take a smaller pan and add the sauce ingredients (except the cornstarch mixture) to pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and add the cornstarch mixture while stirring. Once it gets as thick as you want it, take it off the heat.
5. Add sauce to the tofu and serve with rice. I think the sweetness goes well with a side of plain edamame.

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