Tofu With Garlic Mirin Sauce

Tyson Hurt's Note:

I came up with this recipe as a result of becoming vegan, and no longer being able to eat mirin chicken with my Japanese friends. The glaze takes on a dark brown color, and coats the fried tofu very nicely. You may want to make extra sauce to serve over rice.

• Total Time: 12 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 7 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 1 lb extra firm tofu, pressed and drained
• 2 teaspoons cooking oil

Sauce

• 1/8 cup mirin
• 1/8 cup soy sauce or 1/8 cup tamari
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 garlic clove, minced, to taste

Directions:

1. Slice tofu into 1/4 inch strips.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, and add cooking oil.
3. Fry tofu until light golden, making sure both sides are browned.
4. Remove tofu to paper-towel lined plate.
5. Stir all sauce ingredients in a small bowl, adding the sesame oil last.
6. Pour mixture into skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until thickened.
7. Return tofu to skillet, and toss to coat.
8. Serve with steamed jasmine rice, or cooked soba noodles if desired.

Reviews

[Valeria]

I love mirin, but this recipe doesn't do enough with it to make it really good. The only tofu I had was extra firm silken, which doesn't hold together very well in the fry pan. But on the bright side I kept looking for mirin tofu recipes until I found a really quick and delicious one with steamed vegetables, brown rice and homemade peanut sauce to top off the mirin-fried tofu.

[Chef #1126518]

Excellent! This was my first attempt at making my own marinade, and it was wonderful. I doubled the sauce (for pouring over rice/veggies) and used frozen (and then thawed) tofu that I squeezed all the water out of. I also added some crushed red pepper flakes in addition to some toasted sesame seeds. Turned out very well. Thanks!

[vusandra]

This sauce has good potential and I think the recipe can be expanded to include more ingredients (mushrooms, broccoli, bean sprouts, etc). I used peanut oil because I didn't have sesame oil. It tasted fine, but I think it would taste better with sesame oil. Also added some crushed red pepper for a kick. Remember to add the oil last when making the sauce!