May 2, 20213 min read

Crispy Sweet & Spicy Garlic Tofu

Updated: Oct 9, 2022

Today we are preparing Vegan Crispy Garlic Tofu

We are going to prepare this crispy garlic tofu recipe using an air fryer. It is quick to prepare, so flavorful and can be easily paired with rice, noodles, pita bread or eaten just as an appetizer.

Ingredients

Tofu - 500 Grams

Salt - 1 Teaspoon

Cornstarch - 2 Tablespoons

Ingredients for sauce

Vinegar - 1 Tablespoon

Agave Syrup - 2 Tablespoons

Red Wine Vinegar - 1 Tablespoon

Soy Sauce - 1 Tablespoon

Red Chili Powder - 1 Teaspoon

Cornstarch - 1 Tablespoon

Ingredients while cooking

Oil - 2-3 tablespoons

Garlic - 7-8 Cloves

Onion - 1 Small

Chilies - 2

Spring onion greens - 2

Dry red Chilis - 4

Sauce

Salt - Half teaspoon

Air fried tofu

Sesame Oil - Half teaspoon

Toasted Sesame seeds

Let’s get started

Step 1 - Prep the tofu

I am taking 500 grams of tofu, it is medium firm tofu and slicing it in small blocks. Add all the tofu pieces to a bowl. Now add 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, mix them gently. Even if few of them break it’s alright.

Air Frying the Tofu

I have sprayed the tray with oil, I am going to add the first batch of tofu pieces to it with some distance apart. Spraying some more olive oil on top of it. Now Air fry the tofu over for 15 mins over 200 C. You can always bake or shallow fry the tofu as well. They sound so crispy.

Step 2 - Slice the vegetables

I am using around 7-8 cloves of garlic, I know you are thinking it’s a lot but it is the perfect quantity for this recipe, it’s called garlic tofu for a reason. Finely chopping one small onion. Spring onion brings such great depth to this recipe. And I am also using around 4 medium dry red chilis and roughly breaking them.

Step 3 - Prepare the sauce

To a bowl add 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of agave syrup, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of red chili powder, yes we are spicing things up, give it a mix, then add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, you can use potato starch as well. Mix and make sure that there are no lumps and there we go the sauce is ready.

Step 4 - Time to cook

Heat a pan and add around 2-3 tablespoons of oil, then add the onion, white part of the spring onion greens, garlic, I am using 2 roughly chopped yellow chili and the dry red chili. Mix everything, I am going to cook it over high heat but you can choose to cook over medium heat as well if you feel that it might burn. After 5-7 minutes you will notice that the onion will shrink in size and will get caramelized perfectly. Make sure you continue to stir, so it doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Pour the sauce into the pan, mix everything- switch the heat to low.I am adding a little water, since we have the cornstarch in the sauce it will thicken the sauce. Add half teaspoon of salt to the pan, let it cook for 2-3 mins till you observe the oil start to separate from the sauce.

Give it a nice mix again and then add the air fried tofu to the pan followed by the spring onion greens. Add half tablespoon of sesame oil which is optional, followed by toasted sesame seeds. Give it a mix again, and the crispy sweet and spicy garlic tofu is ready.

This is one of the easiest recipes you can prepare at home which gives you a feel of restaurant style food. You can control the spice level as per your taste, so reduce or remove the red chili powder from the recipe or reduce the amount of dry and fresh chili’s it’s all up to you. I like to pair this with some plain pasta to make it more wholesome

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