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Orange Sesame Tofu Recipe

All > Food > Orange Sesame Tofu Recipe by natetrue

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A while ago I started playing with tofu and cooking it in various ways. I fell in love with this delicious Ginger Sesame sauce and tried preparing tofu in it. It was delicious, but the main ingredient in that sauce was high fructose corn syrup, and we know how unhealthy that is. So I set out to make a delicious and healthy all-natural version.

This recipe uses frozen tofu, which you make out of extra firm tofu, frozen and then thawed. But we'll start with the ingredients:

Ingredient list (sauce):
- 4 tbsp Orange juice concentrate
- 5 tbsp Reduced sodium soy sauce (if using normal soy sauce, don't add salt)
- 4 tbsp Toasted sesame oil (can use normal sesame/olive/vegetable oil + use toasted sesame seeds instead of raw)
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tbsp Raw sesame seeds (can use toasted sesame seeds for more flavor)
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp Ground ginger (can use equivalent amount of fresh ginger, not sure how much that is)
- 1 tsp Chili powder
- 1 tbsp Lite salt (50/50 potassium/sodium chloride mix, can use normal salt instead)
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Onion powder
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp white flour
- 1 tsp Paprika (subtle taste, can be omitted)
- 1 tsp Red pepper (triple for spicy tofu; recipe is not significantly spicy otherwise)
- 1 tsp Black pepper (triple for spicy tofu; recipe is not significantly spicy otherwise)

Ingredient list (tofu):
- 19 oz extra firm tofu, prepared by first freezing and then thawing it

Let's get started with the sauce first:

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The secret ingredient in the sauce is orange juice concentrate. Easier than making it yourself out of real oranges! Make sure on the label that it is 100% juice, no added sugar (we will add our own!).

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I like to use reduced sodium soy sauce. If you want, you can use normal soy sauce, and don't add extra salt to the sauce.

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The toasted sesame oil is a fantastic flavor and it smells great. If you can't find it at your food store, you can replace it with normal sesame oil, or normal vegetable oil. Then augment it with toasted sesame seeds instead of raw sesame seeds in the recipe.

Don't have/can't find toasted sesame seeds? You can toast your own. Just put raw sesame seeds in a pan, and heat at medium high, tossing every few minutes until about 5% of them have turned brown. Keep in a sealed container and smell them every so often because they smell great!

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Start by combining the ornage juice concentrate, soy sauce, and oil in a pan. The one shown here is a little bit too small for 19 ounces of tofu. Use a wok if you can.

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Then add the other ingredients for the sauce. Whisk until homogeneous.

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This is what it should look like if you forget to add the water. Otherwise it will look significantly more watery. You can start heating the sauce now if you want.

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Take your tofu (you remembered to freeze and then thaw it, right?) and open it. The kind I get comes in four chunks.

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Squeeze most of the water out of the chunks (don't rip the tofu though) using both hands.

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Then cut into small pieces. These are about 2cm by 1cm by 1cm rectangular bits.

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Add the tofu to the sauce (again, this pan is a little too little) and stir about. Again I forgot to add the water until this next step. You can add it earlier. Turn the heat to medium-high if you haven't already.

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Stir until the pieces are evenly coated, and continue to stir as the sauce boils down. The sauce will be absorbed into the tofu so don't be surprised if it disappears a little quicker than you expect.

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The sauce boiling down will look like this if you can slow down time with your eyes like I can.

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Continue stirring the tofu until the liquid is all gone, and the tofu browns goldenly.

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You're done! Serve over rice or as a substitute for meat in tacos or wherever the kids are stuffing meat these days. Best with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds as shown.

I hope you enjoyed my tofu! I put a lot of my sweat and blood into it (though they have been omitted from the recipe). Let me know what you think in the comments section.