Recipe + Photos by April Viar 

With daylight savings time and cooler weather on the horizon, it is time for warm comforting dishes. They make you feel full, happy and ready to relax and watch your favorite show.  This Certified Vegan San-J Shoyu Sauce Tofu recipe has the perfect amount of umami flavor and spice to warm you up. Very easy dish. I recommend using extra firm tofu or freezing and defrosting your tofu for that extra texture. Serve over a bowl of rice or noodles. Whichever one you have in your pantry, both are fantastic choices. 

Servings: 2

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 tbsp Certified Vegan San-J Shoyu Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 tsp minced ginger
  • 1 tsp neutral oil (for lightly pan frying the tofu) 
  • 1 package of extra firm tofu
  • 1 scallion sliced (half for stir fry and half for topping dish)
  • 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

DIRECTIONS 

  • In a saucepan, combine on medium heat Shoyu, mirin, toasted sesame oil, dark brown sugar, garlic and ginger. Bring to a low boil, while constantly stirring until sugar is melted, turn down the heat and simmer and continue stirring. The sauce is ready when it becomes slightly sticky and thicker. Turn off the heat and put to the side. 
  • Using a 10-inch pan, add your neutral oil. I prefer to pull apart the tofu block into chunky pieces. All the little tofu crumbs that fall apart make for tasty little morsels when mixed with the sauce. (You can also cube the block of tofu if you prefer.) Lightly pan fry the tofu on medium heat. When you have your desired texture, pour in your sauce to completely cover the tofu. 
  • Continue to stir fry the tofu. Add in the chili garlic sauce and half of your sliced scallions and saute for two minutes until all of your ingredients are merged together. Remove from the heat and serve the Shoya Tofu over rice or noodles and top with the remaining scallions.

NOTES

If you are not as much into spicy dishes, you can cut back or eliminate the chili garlic sauce. If you prefer spice, add more. Enjoy!