Spicy And Crunchy Garlic Tofu To Fight Off Winter Cold And Flu

Cold winter months are here to stay for some time, so it is essential to stay warm and eat healthy to fight off any sicknesses that this season brings. Check out this interesting cuisine curated with love in a Korean style to beat viral infections and stay rejuvenated.

Ingredients

• 1 16-ounce block of extra firm tofu pressed and chopped into 1/2-inch bite-sized chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons potato starch plus 1 extra teaspoon
• 7 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 red onion diced
• 2 Korean green chilis, sliced can sub-seeded jalapenos
• 2 whole scallions white parts chopped, green parts sliced on a bias
• 1 Tablespoon gochagaru
• 1-1 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 Tablespoon mirin can be left out if you don't have any
• 4+1 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/8 cup dried red chilis can be left out if you don't have any
• 1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

• To a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of potato starch to tofu chunks. Gently toss the tofu to make sure they are all evenly coated. Set aside.
• Prep your vegetables by mincing the garlic, dicing the onion, slicing the Korean chilis, and chopping up the scallions.
• Prepare the sauce by mixing gochugaru, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, mirin, and 1 teaspoon of potato starch. Set aside.
• To a very large non-stick pan, add 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat. When the oil is very hot, add coated tofu chunks in one layer, making sure they are not touching each other. If they touch, they will stick to one another.
• Cook the tofu and flip them one by one, until they are brown on all sides (approximately 7 minutes).
• Remove the tofu chunks from the pan and set them aside on a cooling rack to drain the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining tofu.
• When all of the tofu has been fried, in the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Then add the garlic, onions, chilis, and scallions and saute the vegetables until the garlic starts to brown.
• Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the sauce, stirring it with a wooden spoon until it reduces down into a thick sauce (approximately 30 seconds). Turn off the heat.
• Gently add back the fried tofu and stir everything together, so that the tofu chunks are evenly coated in your sauce.
• Garnish the tofu with ½ tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

(Recipe credit: thekoreanvegan.com)