Honey Garlic Tofu

Honey garlic tofu is a Filipino vegan dish made by frying tofu in a pan with a mixture of Honey, vinegar, corn-starch, garlic powder, soy sauce, green pepper, oil and seasoned with sesame seeds and scallions. With sweet and savoury mix of flavours with a crunchy on the outside but soft and creamy on the inside texture, Honey Garlic Tofu is a great no meat substitute for days you forget to defrost your meat. This dish is flavourful and delicious that you might add this in your weekly rotation of dishes.

Honey as a sugar replacement

Honey and sugar are two of the most common sweeteners used all over the world. Honey has recently outgrown diet culture and has itself became so popular especially nowadays when people are looking for healthier alternatives. While brown and white sugar is made by extracting and refining sucrose from sugar beets and sugar cane. Honey is made from nectar gathered by honeybees, which is made out of fructose and glucose. Honey is classified as a flavonoid this has anti-inflammatory properties which provides a good list of health benefits. Many have been using honey as an alternative for sugar without sacrificing the sweetness with the additional benefits like having antimicrobial properties that’s been used as a salve to help heal wounds and micro burns, the anti inflammatory properties also help ease coughing and sore throats. 

Why eat Honey Garlic Tofu or rather tofu?

Tofu is an Asian ingredient made of soy curdled and formed into cubes or squares and is naturally low in calories and is gluten-free. An excellent source of calcium and iron that contributes to overall health and lowers risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Isoflavines found in soy were found to help reduce “bad” cholesterols; study even concluded that the impact of tofu as part of a diet helps reduce the BMI or Body Mass Index and weight. There are even suggestions that genistein in soy has properties that help stop the growth of cancer cells. Consuming a moderate amount of soy or tofu or around two serving a day may decrease breast cancer occurrence. Although there is still a need to further study this, many recommend soy to breast cancer survivors. Because Tofu is such an great ingredient for weight loss and reducing cholesterol, it can also benefit people with Type 2 diabetes as people who consume tofu seem to excrete less protein that those who only consume animal protein. There are also benefits with kidney function, due to the protein content found in tofu it impacts the lipid levels in the blood and shows positive effect with people that have chronic kidney disease. Soy, which is also high in calcium, also helps reduce bone loss and increase bone density especially after menopause. Studies also suggest that in regions where people consume more soy also lower age related mental disorders. With so many benefits of consuming tofu why not only add it into your diet. Tofu is a versatile ingredient that suits also any dish prom pastas to soups, fried dishes, with some turning tofu into dessert by adding sugar or honey or even adding syrup to make taho a Filipino street food dessert that many have fond memories of, and many others using tofu as a replacement for rice in their diet.

In this recipe, all you need to do is drain the tofu, coat them in cornstarch to give it a crunch once cooked. Mix the sauce made of soy sauce, honey, apple cider, cornstarch, water and garlic powder. Sauté the fried tofu with soy sauce and green chilies which gives it a bit of a kick. A sprinkle of some sesame seeds and scallions for decoration and its all done.

Enjoy this quick and easy healthy dish that doesn’t need any meat to make it filling. This tasty tofu dish is nicely seasoned with a bit of a heat and crunch.

Honey Garlic Tofu

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Course: Main

Servings

4

servings

A delicious sweet and savory dish even without the meat

Ingredients

• 4 cubes tofu

• 4 teaspoons honey

• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• ¼ cup soy sauce

• ¼ cup water

• 3 green hot pepper (sliced)

• cooking oil

• sesame seeds

• scallions

Directions

• Wrap tofu in a paper towel and press this gently to remove excess liquid. Leave the tofu inside the towel for 30 minutes.
• For the sauce; in a bowl mix soy sauce, water, honey, garlic powder, apple cider, and cornstarch. Set aside.
• Slice the drained tofu into bite sized pieces.
• Sprinkle cornstarch in a rectangle glass bowl. Place the tofu in the glass bowl and sprinkle cornstarch over the tofu.
• In a large skillet at medium heat, add oil and place the tofu in. cook till all sides have browned.
• Once everything has browned add the soy sauce mix and green hot pepper. Toss the tofu around to coat it evenly.
• Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions for decoration.

Recipe Video

Honey Garlic Tofu recipe (tagalog)

Sahog

• 4 cubes ng tofu
• 4 kutsaritang pulot
• 2 kutsaritang apple cider vinegar
• 1 kutsarang cornstarch
• 1 kutsaritang garlic powder
• ¼ tasa soy sauce
• ¼ tasa tubig
• 3 berdeng sili (hiniwa)
• mantika
• sesame seeds
• dahon ng sibuyas

Paano lutuin

1. Ibalot ang tofu sa paper towel para matanggalan ng sobrang likwid. Iwanin ang tofu sa towel ng 30 na minuto.
2. Para sa sauce; sa isang mangkok haluin ang soy sauce, tubig, pulot, garlic powder, apple cider, at cornstarch. Itabi.
3. Hatiin ang tofu ng maliliitn na piraso.
4. Wisikan ng cornstarch ang isang mangkok. Ilagay ang tofu ditto at wisikan pa ng cornstarch.
5. Sa malaking kawali na may katamtamang init. Lagyan ng mantik at ang tofu. Lutuin hanggang nag kayumanggi ang bawat gilid.
6. Pag nag kayumanggi na ang bawat gilid, ilagay ang soy sauce na halo at sili. Haluin ng mabuto para matakpan ng sauce ang mga tofu.
7. Wisikan ito ng sesame seeds at dahon ng sibuyas pang decorasyon.