Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Tofu, Kung Hei Fat Choy
Description
Enjoy this very lucky orange tofu which is a deep jewel red from the blood orange juice. In Chinese culture, red represents good fortune, joy, and happiness!
Ingredients
Peel of 1 large orange- white pith removed as best you can sliced into long 1/8 inch strips
Juice of three oranges
Juice of two blood oranges
2 tsp. natural orange flavor
2 tbl. sherry vinegar
1 tbl. low sodium gluten-free soy sauce (tamari)
3 tbl. light brown muscavado sugar + 1 tsp.
2 cu. broccoli florets
1 cu. carrots cut into coins (about 4 large carrots)
3 cloves garlic cut into razor-thin slices
1 tbl. fresh ginger, minced
½ cu. water
3 tbl. grape seed oil
12 oz. medium firm tofu
½ cu. cornstarch
¼ cu. white rice flour
1 tsp. powdered ginger
salt and white pepper
4 tbl. scallions-white and light green parts
Directions
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Slice tofu into ½ thick pieces, wrap in paper towels, place in a colander with a heavy bowl on top. Change paper towels after 15 minutes and drain for another 15 minutes, at least.
Add orange peel, orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange flavor, sherry vinegar, soy sauce, and 3 tablespoons brown sugar to a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook on medium-high heat until it becomes thick and slightly syrupy. About 7-10 minutes.
Heat a large saucepan over high heat and add the water. Toss carrots on the bottom and put the broccoli on top of the carrots. Cover and cook for about 2-3 minutes. You want them to be just barely softened and a nice bright color. Then remove the veggies and place in an ice water bath with a little lemon juice inside. Drain after about 1 minute.
Cut tofu into cubes and pat dry one more time.
Sift together 1 teaspoon brown sugar, a heavy pinch of salt, powdered ginger, 1, and a ½ teaspoon white pepper, and add 1 teaspoon orange flavor to the sifted mix. Then add tofu and toss gently- being careful not to break the tofu cubes. Allow to sit in mixture for a couple of minutes.
The recipe up until this point can be prepared up to one day in advance and refrigerated.
Sift rice flour, corn starch, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon white pepper in a clean dry bowl. Working in batches, coat the tofu on all sides.
Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. When you can add a water droplet and it skitters across the pan before evaporating (like a little ball of mercury) your pan is ready for oil.
Add enough grape seed oil to cover the bottom of the skillet to about 1/8 of an inch deep. Carefully (I like to use tongs) add about 1/3 of the tofu. You’ll want to brown all four sides- be careful not to burn it and adjust the heat if necessary. I like it just golden brown, not dark at all, but please make it to your preference. For light golden brown, it’s only about 1 minute per side. Remove tofu cubes, and add the next batch. Change the oil if there are too many burnt bits, but make sure to heat it again if you change it.
When all of the tofu is done, wipe down your pan, lower heat to medium, add 1 tbsp grape seed oil, fresh ginger, garlic, broccoli, carrots, tofu, and orange sauce. Cook for about 3-5 minutes (unless everything has been refrigerated then it will take longer) or until everything is just heated through.
Serve over brown rice or noodles and garnish with scallions.