My Mom loves a hearty plate of tofu smothered in sauce. Her name on Instagram is Tofupansa for gawdSSSSsakes… what more do I need to say to convince you she LOVES tofu. Anyhow, she’s always asking me to make her a batch and I kinda blow it off. Not because I’m trying to ignore her wishes, but more because I hadn’t really dreamed up the perfect way to serve it up.
After playing with a batch of super firm tofu… I came up with my crispy tofu bbq rice bowl. It’s more of a hybrid summer meal. I say hybrid because I paired it with a batch of BBQ’d veggies, so some of the meal was made inside the house and the other half was made outside on the grill. Needless to say my Momma loves it and she can thank herself for pushing me to make it.
Makes 4 bowls:
Ingredients for Crispy Tofu BBQ Rice Bowl
- 1 package super firm or extra firm tofu
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 1/2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon freeze dried garlic or fresh garlic minced
- sliced green onion
- more toasted sesame seeds
- BBQ’d Veggies (I used mushrooms, bell peppers, and broccoli)
- Sticky steamed rice
Directions:
- Make a batch of sticky steamed rice. I use a rice cooker to make perfect rice.
- Prepare veggies for the BBQ by seasoning them with sesame oil, soy sauce and garlic powder. Place on a grill or BBQ until the veggies are cooked to your liking.
- Remove tofu from packaging and compress between a few paper towels to remove any excess liquid. I like to cut the tofu up into long strips and do the paper towel press again. Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes.
- Once cubes have been dried off, roll them in cornstarch and set them to the side.
- In a large frying pan over a medium high flame, add enought vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Allow the oil to get hot. Fry all the coated tofu cubes on all sides until perfectly crisp.
- Remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel lined plate.
Time for the sauce.
- In a mixing bowl add brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, ketchup, and sesame seed oil. Whisk until combined.
- Add 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and garlic to a frying pan over a medium high flame and allow it get hot for about 30 seconds or until the garlic browns then add in sauce mixture. Allow the sauce to cook for about 3 minutes or until it thickens a bit.
- Once the sauce comes to a slight boil add in the crisp tofu to coat in sauce. Mix until completely combined.
Make a Bowl!
- Fill the bottom of a bowl with sticky steamed rice. Then add in bbq’d veggies, and crispy tofu. Sprinkle the top with green onion slices and sesame seeds.
- Serve and enjoy!
If I have left over rice, I use it the next day to make fried rice. Find my soy chorizo fried rice recipe here!
