If you think that tofu means bland, my friend, I'm about to prove you wrong. This Crispy Tofu Bowl has the most delicious orange tahini sauce that is both salty & sweet. Served with all of the fixings, this bowl is fresh, vibrant and wholesome. The perfect plant based dinner recipe!
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How to Make Crispy Tofu
Crispy tofu makes for a delicious plant based dinner! Making crispy fried tofu is so easy and uses minimal ingredients. It's important to use firm tofu as it is the best tofu for frying. Simply cut the tofu into cubes and toss them in a mixture of sea salt, pepper and tapioca starch. If you don't have tapioca starch you could also use corn starch.
The next step is to fry the tofu. I use extra virgin olive oil, however you can use rice bran oil if that is what you have on hand. I use enough just to shallow fry the tofu. The frypan needs to be heated to a medium - high heat and the tofu needs to be cooked in a few batches, we don't want to overcrowd the pan! As the first side of the tofu pieces starts to turn golden, flip onto the next side. Continue this until each side has been fried.
Pop the fried tofu into a paper towel lined tray while you are cooking the remaining batches.
Orange Tamari Sauce
The orange tamari sauce for this plant based dinner recipe is very straight forward to make. It uses 4 simple ingredients:
- tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
- orange juice and zest
- sesame oil
- tapioca starch (to thicken)
Simply whisk all of the ingredients together in a saucepan over a medium-low heat until it starts to thicken. Simples!
Health Benefits of Tofu
Tofu is a wholefood soy product, which is made by fermenting soy beans. Fermented products are typically easier to digest as the fermentation process means they are already pre-digested. Soy beans have many nutritional benefits including:
- they are high in protein
- they're a good source of iron & calcium
- soy foods contain isoflavones (also known as phytoestrogens), which can have antioxidant benefits and be beneficial to those who are low in oestrogen.
A note on isoflavones/phytoestrogens:
Phytoestrogens are a compound found in plants that mimic oestrogen in the body. This can beneficial for those who are low in oestrogen. However, if you happen to be oestrogen dominant, or have an oestrogen dominant condition, I would recommend discussing consuming soy products with your nutritionist or naturopath. Generally speaking, you would need to be consuming a really large amount to have a negative effect, however this varies dependant on the individual.
Soy can also be goitrogenic, so for those who have a hypothyroid condition, it is best to avoid soy.
How to Serve
I've served this crispy tofu and orange Tamari sauce dish with beautiful, fresh and wholefood ingredients including:
- broccoli sprouts
- kale
- snow peas
- avocado
- sesame seeds
- brown rice
Combining tofu with sesame seeds and brown rice means this dish delivers a high amount of quality, plant based protein. It is also high in complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. Not to mention the plethora of other nutrients like magnesium, calcium, fibre, b vitamins and antioxidants. Basically, your body will love you for feeding it this yummy tofu bowl.
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Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Frypan
- Large saucepan & Steamer
- Whisk
- Small saucepan
Ingredients
Crispy Tofu
- 500 g firm tofu organic non GMO
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
Orange Tamari Dressing
- 2 tablespoon tamari
- orange zest from half orange
- 1 orange juiced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon tapioca starch
To Serve
- 150 g snow peas topped & tailed
- 1 handful sprouts
- 2 cups Brown rice
- 2 steams spring onion finely chopped
- 1 bunch kale stem removed and roughly shredded
- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 avocado sliced
Instructions
- Place brown rice into a large saucepan with approximately 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Leave to simmer with the lid on until cooked through and tender.
- While the rice is cooking, mix together the tamari, extra virgin olive oil, orange juice and zest in a small saucepan and set aside.
- Line a bowl with clean paper towel and set aside.
- Pat tofu dry, pushing down slightly to remove excess moisture. Cut into 1cm x 1cm cubes.
- Add ¼ cup tapioca, salt and pepper to a medium sized bowl. Add tofu to bowl and toss to combine.
- Drizzle extra virgin olive oil into a frypan and bring to a medium heat. Once hot, add tofu and cook on each side of tofu until crispy and golden, being careful to not overcrowd the pan - tofu may need to be cooked in batches depending on frypan size.
- Once crispy, transfer to paper towel lined bowl and cook remaining tofu.
- While frying the tofu, place the snow peas into a steamer and place atop brown rice to gently steam. Once snow peas are bright green, remove steamer from top of rice and place lid back onto saucepan with rice in it.
- Once tofu is all fried, add kale to frypan, tossing occasionally until wilted. Once cooked turn off the heat.
- Place saucepan with tamari sauce onto stovetop and bring to a medium heat. Add tapioca starch and begin whisking straight away. Once the sauce begins to thicken, turn off the heat.
- To serve, add brown rice to a bowl and top with a serving of crispy tofu, kale, snow peas, sliced avocado and sprouts. Top with Orange Tamari dressing and spring onion.
Notes
Nutrition
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