Sriracha Tofu

Publised on 03/09/2019. Last Updated on 03/09/2019 by Richard

Sriracha tofu, baked until crispy and glazed in a deliciously sweet, tangy sauce. Top with toasted sesame seeds and Bob's your uncle!

Sticky, sweet, tangy! Everything you could want from tofu!

Let's imagine for a second that you'd never come across this post for my fully vegan sticky sriracha tofu. Let's imagine you'd never seen that gorgeously crispy tofu, baked until golden brown and then glazed with a sticky, sweet sriracha sauce. Is that a world any of us actually want to live in? DIDN'T THINK SO!

I've been working for a while on a recipe for a delicious but quick tofu dish. If you've been vegan for a while, chances are you've been served some pretty bland tofu. But it's 2019, which means there's no excuse any more! That's why it's so important that you make this sticky sriracha tofu!

Everyone's fave hot sauce!

Sriracha is basically my second husband. Like Béyonce, I literally carry a small bottle around in my backpack because JEEBUS forbid I have to face a meal without it! So it was an inevitability that, given enough time, my fave protein would meet my fave hot sauce. 

What makes this recipe so good is the added dimension that comes with sriracha's BBQ vibes! It's so much more than a hot sauce because it's also packed with umami smokiness and a beautifully sweet tang! It transforms this recipe and I can't tell you how grateful I am that sriracha exists. Thailand, for this I thank you!

Crispy, meet sticky!

The key to getting this recipe just right and really NAILING the insanely comforting vibe is to make sure you have a huge contrast between your crunchy crispy baked tofu and your next level sticky sriracha sauce!

Yes, it's possible to fry your tofu to get it nice and crispy, but I've been doing a fair bit of frying recently and I thought I'd give it a rest. Truth be told, I much prefer this dish with baked tofu over fried - the flavours are much more pure this way and the mouthfeel is way less greasy. The aromatics of the ginger and the spring onions are free to SING from the rooftops and you still have the beautiful crispy texture which makes this sticky sriracha tofu so appealing! Here are three steps to making sure your tofu is mega crisp!

1. Make sure each cube of tofu is coated in corn starch! The corn starch, when baked, forms a thin crispy batter on the outside of the tofu. I've also added some Chinese five spice to the equation but feel free to leave this out if you feel it over-complicates things.
2. Bake on a good high temperature. Like with frying, things only get seriously crispy when they get super hot! I suggest baking at 200c and keeping an eye on things to make sure they don't overcook!
3. It's all in the timings! Make sure your tofu isn't sat in the sauce for ages before you serve - it'll soak up all the moisture and the tofu will lose its crispiness. Stir it in at the last minute!

Need more tofu recipes??

If you're after more tofu recipes, why not try my vegan tofu scramble, my vegan bacon and my vegan omelette!! They're all absolute game changers!

Sticky Sriracha Tofu

Crispy baked tofu glazed in a sticky sriracha and sesame sauce.

5 from 22 votes

Print Pin Rate

Servings: 2

Calories: 503kcal

Author: Richard Makin

Ingredients

For the Crispy Tofu

• ▢ 300 g tofu (extra firm)
• ▢ 6 tablespoon cornflour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice
• ▢ pinch fine sea salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the Sticky Sriracha Sauce

• ▢ 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ▢ thumb sized piece ginger (peeled and sliced into match-sticks)
• ▢ 2 dried red chillis
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• ▢ 2 spring onions (sliced into 1cm pieces, white section separated from the green section)
• ▢ 60 ml soy sauce
• ▢ 60 ml rice vinegar
• ▢ 80 ml vegetable stock
• ▢ 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
• ▢ ½ tablespoon sriracha
• ▢ 1 tablespoon corn starch (+1 tablespoon water)
• ▢ ½ tablespoon white sesame seeds

Instructions

To Make the Crispy Tofu

• Preheat the oven to 200c.
• Slice the drained, pressed tofu into 16 rectangles.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the corn flour, Chinese five spice and salt. Toss the Tofu in the corn flour mixture. Spread on a baking sheet and drizzle with the oil.
• Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes (or until golden brown and crispy), flipping the tofu half way through. While baking make the sauce. Once baked, remove from the oven.

To Make the Sticky Sriracha Sauce

• In a frying pan or wock over a medium/high heat, add the oil and bring to temperature.
• Add the ginger and fry for around 30 seconds before adding the chillis, garlic and the white parts of the spring onions. Fry for a further minute or two then add the soy sauce, vinegar, stock, sugar and sriracha sauce. Reduce the heat to medium and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
• Whisk together the corn starch with the tablespoon of water in a small bowl then add the corn starch slurry to the sauce. Stir and simmer until thickened and sticky.
• Add the crispy tofu, sesame seeds and green spring onion pieces and stir to combine. Serve with steamed or boiled rice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1grams | Calories: 503kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Sodium: 1937mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 13g

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