Learning to Appreciate Tofu

In college, I lived with my friend Sarah, who eats a vegetarian diet. I remember trying tofu then, and NOT enjoying it. However, since college, I’ve come to appreciate tofu so much more.

Much of my knowledge of tofu comes from my friend Cindy, author of Vegetarian Mamma. She wrote a great beginners’s guide to understanding tofu! She also introduced me to the E-Z Tofu Press, which I won in one of her giveaways. It works great at pressing out the extra water in a block of tofu.

One reason I really like tofu is because it’s inexpensive. I buy the Simple Truth Extra Firm Organic Tofu from my local Kroger. It costs under $2 for 14 ounces. You can’t get beef or chicken for that cheap! I cut my block of tofu by slicing the block of tofu horizontally, in 3 sections. Then I cut each section into 24 cubes

How to Bake Tofu

I always struggle at getting tofu crispy on the stovetop. Finally one day, I wondered what would happen if I coated and baked cubed tofu. The outcome was delicious! While I originally coated it in gluten free corn flake crumbs, I now coat it crushed Corn or Rice Chex. It’s so easy. (You can also use gluten free bread crumbs.)

This crispy baked tofu works perfectly for my Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Tofu recipe. Because the outside of the tofu stays crispy, the tofu doesn’t fall apart once combined with the sauce. Baking tofu makes your hands free to do the rest of your cooking, too. It cooks on its own while you’re making the sauce for this delicious Sweet and Sour Tofu.

Have an Air Fryer? Skip my step for baking in the oven and try this Best Air Fryer Tofu from Vegetarian Mamma!

Can You Make This With Chicken?

If you’re really not a fan of tofu, you can use this with chicken, instead. You could use diced chicken breast, and simply saute it in a skillet. You could also simply substitute chicken nuggets, and cut them up into smaller pieces. (We’ve done it before!)

How to Make Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Sauce

My recipe for Sweet and Sour Sauce uses pineapple juice, rice vinegar, ketchup, San J Tamari, plus brown sugar, cornstarch and water. *Note – combine the cornstarch and water in a small dish and stir, before adding to the rest of the ingredients. This prevents your sauce from having lumps in it.

You could put this sauce on any protein you like. I use this homemade sauce for Sweet and Sour Chicken at our Michigan Gluten Free Kids Camp. The kids eat it right up! In fact, you could serve it alongside chicken nuggets. Or, use it as a dipping sauce for my Rice Paper Egg Rolls. (Or buy them premade from Feel Good Foods!)

What to Serve with Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Tofu

I like to serve this Sweet and Sour Tofu over Jasmine rice. I fell in love with it after trying it from Delta Blues in my Bi Bim Bap. It smells so sweet and fragrant! Plus, it cooks so quickly. I make a large batch of rice in my Instant Pot and then have leftovers for later in the week.

Craving a different type of Asian recipe? Check out my round up of over two dozen gluten free Asian recipes.  Looking for other tofu recipes? Again, I highly recommend checking out all the tofu recipes on Vegetarian Mamma’s website. I know I’m eager to try her tofu based Vegan Thai Lettuce Cups!

Recipe

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Sweet and Sour Tofu

Equipment

• Marukan Vinegar Rice Genuine Brwd
• San J International, Sauce Tamari Reduced Sodium Organic, 20 Fl Oz

Ingredients

For the Baked Tofu

• 1 14 oz pkg Extra Firm tofu cut into cubes
• 1/3 Chex cereal crumbs 1 1/2 cups pre ground
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Vegetables, etc

• 1 green pepper cubed
• 1 red pepper cubed
• 1 onion cubed
• 1 c. pineapple chunks from can

For the sauce

• 2/3 c pineapple juice from can of pineapple
• 1/3 c ketchup
• 1/3 c rice wine vinegar Apple cider vinegar works, too
• 2 tbsp San J tamari
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in
• 1/3 c water

Instructions

• Open package of tofu and press out extra water. I do this in my tofu press, and let it squeeze for 15-20 minutes. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and pulverize cereal into crumbs. Do so in a food processor or blender so the crumbs are as fine as possible. To that, add salt and garlic powder. 
• (If making rice, start it now.) 
• After tofu is pressed and most of the water is out, cube tofu. I slice mine in thirds from the side when it’s flat, and then cube each third into 24 pieces from the top side. (Hopefully the picture in my post explains this better.)
• Next, toss the mostly dry tofu in the cereal crumb mixture. Place coated tofu on a baking sheet, and spray with cooking spray. (If you want, you can recoat the tofu if you like yours extra coated.) 
• Place tofu in oven and bake for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. 
• While the tofu bakes during the first 15 minutes, prepare the sauce recipe. Combine the pineapple juice, ketchup, rice wine vinegar, tamari, and brown sugar in a medium pot. Heat until almost boiling. In a small dish, combine the 2 tbsp of cornstarch with the 1/3 cup of water. Mix until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add to sauce mixture on stove, and cook until it thickens. 
• After the sauce is prepared, work on cooking the vegetables. I cut my peppers and onion in rather large chunks, and cook over a low temperature so as to prevent burning. (Coat the vegetables with cooking spray to avoid burning, also.)  I find they cook well enough if I put them on during the last 15 minutes while the tofu cooks. I also find they taste best with just a sprinkle of salt. 
• I used canned pineapple chunks for this recipe. However, I find the pieces to be larger than I like, so I usually cut each piece in half. (I use a 20 oz can, and only use half the pineapple and juice from the can.) 
• To serve, place a scoop of rice on the bottom of the bowl. Then top with cooked vegetables and pineapple chunks, then baked tofu. Pour hot sauce over each portion and serve. 

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Originally Published July 2016

The post Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Tofu appeared first on MI Gluten Free Gal.