Teriyaki Tofu

Teriyaki Tofu. A delicious crispy tofu in a sticky teriyaki sauce. This pan-fried teriyaki tofu comes together in less than 30 minutes. This recipe is vegan.

This teriyaki tofu is going to hit every taste bud! It's savory, sweet, garlicky with a hint of ginger. Pairs delicious with cooked rice like white rice or brown rice topped off with any leafy greens of your choice!

I love having this meatless dish with steamed rice and bok choy. The best part is it comes together in just 30 minutes so it's perfect for a weeknight dinner and great as leftovers! If you're a tofu lover, this is the dish for you.

This was adapted from my Teriyaki Chicken recipe which you can find here if you're interested.

Easy Teriyaki Tofu

This sticky teriyaki tofu is so simple and easy to make at home! It only takes 30 minutes including prep and cook time!

Ingredients

This recipe for teriyaki fried tofu requires the below ingredients. ***Please scroll down to the below Recipe card for full measurements***

• Extra-firm tofu: Extra firm tofu is our main ingredient and highly recommended for this recipe. If you use firm tofu or anything softer, it will easily break apart. It also won't get as crispy as extra firm tofu. Most Western or Asian grocery stores will carry this item. Please do not use soft tofu, silken tofu, or medium tofu for this recipe.
• Cornstarch: or sub with potato starch or tapioca starch. This helps to thicken the sauce and also creates the crispy fried tofu after we coat our cubed tofu in it.
• Garlic powder: This will season your tofu, but we will add it after we coat it in cornstarch so that you can taste it.
• Onion powder: To season your tofu, but we will add it after we coat it in cornstarch so that you can taste it.
• Avocado oil: Or any neutral tasting oil like grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil. Do not use olive oil as it carries a slight scent and taste.
• Toasted Sesame seeds: To garnish your teriyaki tofu bowl and also offers a nutty aroma to your dish. It's optional but I highly recommend it!
• Green onions: To garnish your tofu teriyaki. This also optional but recommended.

Teriyaki Sauce:

• Sake: You can use normal or cooking sake. Whatever is available to you. This is needed to make the savory teriyaki sauce recipe. Most Western, Asian grocery stores or online retailers like Amazon will carry this item.
• Mirin: A sweet cooking wine that tastes nothing like alcohol in my experience. It will make your teriyaki sauce sweet and thick. Most Western, Asian grocery stores or online retailers like Amazon will carry this item. If you can't find this item, replace with 2 tablespoon brown sugar or maple syrup and 2 tablespoon water combined.
• Regular soy sauce: Just your all-purpose regular soy sauce. You can also sub with low sodium soy sauce. The label will just say "Soy Sauce". As long the label does not indicate 'light' or 'dark' soy sauce you're good! Why? Light soy sauce is much saltier than regular soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is less salty than regular and much thicker. If you're gluten-free, feel free to sub with coconut aminos or tamari sauce.
• Honey: Or sub with white sugar or maple syrup if you don't have honey. I find honey to add the perfect level of sweetness to balance out our salty homemade teriyaki sauce. You may also use cane sugar or coconut sugar.
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch will be added to the sauce similar to how it's added in a cornstarch slurry but without the water since our sauce is pretty viscous.
• Garlic: To add an element of aroma to our delicious sauce.
• Ginger: To add another element of aroma and taste to the sauce to balance out the salty flavors.

How to make Teriyaki Tofu

Below are visuals to show you how to make this teriyaki tofu recipe. ***Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details***

1. In a small bowl, combine Teriyaki sauce ingredients and mix well.
2. Strain your tofu block of excess water. Pat dry the entire block of tofu of excess moisture with clean paper towels. It's important we remove as much moisture as possible.
3. Slice the block of tofu into small equal sized cubes (about 1-inch cubes).
4. Spread corn starch on a large plate or baking sheet. In batches, coat tofu cubes in cornstarch using hands. Transfer coated tofu into a large bowl. Important: do not be tempted to dump cornstarch and mix tofu in a large bowl or the tofu will not coat properly.
5. Season coated tofu with garlic powder and onion powder by gently mixing with hands.
6. Over medium heat, add oil into a non-stick large skillet or heavy pan like a cast iron skillet. Add tofu to the frying pan in a single layer and spread them apart. Pan frying tofu on both sides for 20 minutes in total. Do not constantly move the tofu, allow it to sit in the pan to fry for 10 minutes per side until crispy golden brown. Be patient with this. Remove tofu and set aside.
7. Lower heat to medium-low heat. Pour in sauce and let it bubble and thicken. Once thick add in the cooked tofu and mix to combine. Once combined, immediately remove off heat.
8. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions (optional). Enjoy!

Cooking Tips

Below are tips on making the best teriyaki tofu stir fry:

Pat dry tofu with paper towels

We want to remove as much moisture from the tofu as possible. This is a simple method for removing moisture. You can also use a tofu press like a tofuture tofu press.

Neat tip: Or the night before, remove the tofu from the packaging to strain out the water, place it in a sealed container and freeze it. This freezing action pulls the water out of the extra-firm tofu by expanding the water molecules in the tofu causing for the water to become sharp shards breaking down the cells. This cell breakdown opens the inner structure of the tofu, and the inside of the tofu becomes a sponge. Then the next day, allow it to thaw. This is a common technique used in North China.

Coat tofu generously with cornstarch

We want the tofu to be coated in cornstarch, so they look like dry powdered cubes. This allows for the tofu to become crispy. Do not be tempted to dump your tofu into a shallow bowl and pour cornstarch on top to mix in the bowl. This will create sticky tofu and it just doesn't work well.

Be patient when frying tofu

This will need 20 minutes of your time to get the tofu all crispy so when the sauce hits it, it won't get all soggy! I like to fry the top and bottom of each piece of tofu for 10 minutes per side.

Boil sauce over medium-low heat

Do not raise it any higher or the sauce will burn. Allow this it slowly bubble and thicken to your desired consistency. Then add in the tofu.

Once tofu is combined with sauce remove off heat

Do not overcook the tofu in the sauce or it'll become soggy.

FAQ

Below are frequently asked questions about this crispy teriyaki tofu:

How long will this dish last?

Up to 4 days stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Reheat on the stove top or in the microwave. Please note, the next day the tofu won't be as crispy as it will have absorbed a lot of the sauce.

What are other ingredients to mix into this tofu stir-fry?

You can also mix in other ingredients to elevate this tofu stir-fry, here are some ideas:

• Cooked snow peas
• Sautéed red bell peppers, or any bell peppers
• Cooked green beans
• Cooked broccoli
• White or yellow onions
• Sautéed Carrots

Can I also make the tofu in the air fryer?

Yes! After coating the tofu in cornstarch, lightly spray your air fryer basket with oil. Place coated tofu into the basket in a single layer - do not overlap (you may need to air fry in batches). Lightly spray the tofu with oil.

Air fry at 400°F for 10 minutes. At the 5-minute mark, flip the tofu over and continue air frying for another 5 minutes. Then bubble the sauce in a sauce pan over low-medium heat and add in your crispy tofu to combine with the sauce.

If you're air frying, do not line the basket with parchment paper or the tofu won't get crispy.

Other tofu recipes you may like!

If you enjoyed this Japanese teriyaki tofu recipe, you may like these other recipes:

Crispy Soy Garlic Tofu
Sweet & Sticky Tofu
Silken Tofu With Onions & Garlic
Spicy Gochujang Sesame Tofu
Air Fryer Sweet And Sour Tofu
Chinese Braised Tofu
Malaysian Curry Tofu

I hope you give my fried teriyaki tofu a try and enjoy it!

If you enjoyed my vegan teriyaki tofu, please leave a star rating and share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture of your re-creation and make sure to tag me @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories as I would love to see it!

Christie

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