Tofu cubes are pan-fried in sesame oil to a crisp, and then drenched in creamy maple-tahini-sriracha sauce to make this scrumptious vegan meal that comes together in minutes.
I totally stole this one from Wegmans. That’s me, the supermarket recipe stealing blogger.
Well no, not really. It’s not that bad. I didn’t steal the recipe. Reverse engineered is a better way to put it, because they didn’t bother to list the ingredients in this particular buffet item on the little tag over it. Just gave a couple of lines about it being crispy tofu in sriracha-sesame sauce. Well duh. Thanks Wegmans. But no, really, thanks for the idea. You guys rock.
So, about this tofu. Normally when I read a recipe title like this I’d assume it was tofu in a light stir-fry-ish sauce, maybe with some sesame oil, hence the sesame. But the Wegman’s buffet version was in creamy sauce, so I think the sesame component was tahini. For my version I cooked the tofu in sesame oil, drenched it in tahini sauce, then sprinkled it all with toasted sesame seeds. Triple sesame. I really love sesame.
The dish turned out incredibly delicious and took all of about ten minutes to throw together. Can’t beat that. It’s spicy, but not super spicy. If you came here looking for super spicy, just keep tipping the sriracha bottle into the sauce until you’re happy.
This would be great with some steamed or stir-fried veggies. We had an abundance of salad greens stashed away in the fridge, so we skipped the cooked veggies in lieu of salads. If you do go the cooked veggie route, be sure to make some extra sauce. You’re going to want it.
Sesame Sriracha Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 14 ounce package extra firm tofu, drained, pressed at least 15 minutes, and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 3-4 tablespoons water
For serving:
- Cooked rice
- Chopped scallions
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with sesame oil and place over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the tofu in an even layer. Cook for about 10 minutes, flipping once or twice, until the tofu cubes are browned and crisp on multiple sides.
- Make the sauce while the tofu cooks. Whisk the tahini, maple syrup, sriracha, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and ginger together in a small bowl. Thin with 3 to 4 tablespoons of water.
- Once the tofu has finished cooking, lower the heat to low and pour the sauce over the tofu, flipping a few times to coat the tofu in the sauce. Cook just until the sauce is hot and begins to bubble, about 1 minute. Careful here — cooking it too long will dry out the sauce. Remove from heat.
- Divide onto plates with rice, and top with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve.
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