Honey Sesame Tofu Puffs-Perfect for Meatless Mondays
One of my favorite recipes is Kristina Cho’s Honey Sesame Tofu Puffs. She included this easy and delicious recipe in her newsletter several months ago and has been on our Meatless Mondays rotation several times. After finding Tofu Puffs in the shape of stars (so cute!) at Ranch 99, I bought a couple of packs and headed home to make dinner. I went to my e-mail and clicked on her newsletter to get to the recipe then I freaked out because I thought…
It’s Behind a Paywall Now?
Nooo🤦🏻♀️, why didn’t I download that recipe?! I’m so sad. I can’t wrap my head around Substack and having to pay for content from each blogger I follow. I mean I get it, you gotta find a way to put dinner on the table. But I have this unfounded fear that if I go down the rabbit hole of subscribing to blogs on Substack…it will end up like my cookbook collection…WAY TOO MANY. I finally weaned myself off of print magazine subscriptions, now is not the time to backslide.
What To Do?
After watching the TikTok video of her making the dish, multiple times, I got the ingredients, but not the amounts. Turning to Google, I created a mash-up from recipes for sweet and spicy tofu or chicken and my best guess of her recipe, lol. It’s pretty darn close if I do say so myself.
False Alarm
Ok, now I feel like an idiot. Maybe it was sixth sense, but I went to Kristina’s website and looked for the recipe again. This time, instead of searching her newsletters, I clicked on ARCHIVES and DUH, there it was, Honey Sesame Tofu Puffs. So, sheepishly I am here to confess that I was wrong, it is not hidden behind a paywall. I have yet to pony-up for a Substack subscription but if and when I do, Kristina’s will be the first.
Lets Get To It
The hardest part might be finding Fried Tofu Puffs. If you have an Asian market near you, go there. Find it in the refrigerated section next to the fresh tofu. This is the shortcut or hack that makes this dish stupid easy. If you don’t have an Asian store (best bet is a Chinese one), you can fry fresh tofu after coating it with some cornstarch. This is the brand Kristina uses which I also recommend, but pick the one you like. Tofu Puffs come in different shapes and sizes, for this recipe, select the smaller puffs which give a nice ratio of sauce to puff in my humble opinion, lol. I even found one shaped like stars, imagine that.
Easy, Peasy
Now that you have the tofu puffs, the rest is easy. Start your rice first as it is the rate-limiting step. The sauce comes together in minutes. Literally, dump the sauce ingredients in the pan, bring to a boil, and reduce a bit which also ensures the garlic is cooked through. Add the cornstarch slurry and bring back to a boil to thicken. This will only take a couple of minutes at most.
Add tofu puffs and stir to coat and warm through. Add sesame seeds and green onions, reserving a quarter of each for garnish.
Serve over rice garnished with remaining sesame seeds and green onions. A side dish of bok choy or a vegetable of your choice (I like banchan like kimchi and cucumbers) makes this a complete meal.
Enjoy!
Honey Sesame Tofu Puffs
Ingredients
- 1 pkg Tofu Puffs approximate 6 ounces
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/4 c + 1 T Honey
- 1.5 T Regular Soy Sauce
- 1 T Sesame oil
- 1/2 T Apple cider or rice vinegar
- 1/4-1/2 tsp chili flakes up to you
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp shaoxing wine
Thickener
- 1/2 T cornstarch
- 1/4 cup + 2 T water
Garnish
- Toasted sesame seeds
- 1 stalk green onions, sliced
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix to combine honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, vinegar, red pepper flakes, garlic, and white pepper.
- In another small bowl mix to combine water and cornstarch.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the sauce and stir constantly until slightly reduced and the initial bubbles subside, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Give the bowl of water and cornstarch a quick stir and then pour in the cornstarch slurry. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens, it should look glossy and leave a trail when you stir.
- Add the tofu puffs and toss to coat in the sauce. Add the 3/4 of sesame seeds and toss again.
- Serve over a bowl of rice, garnish with green onions and reserved sesame seeds.