This tofu stir-fry is what I make whenever I have a yearning for orange meat! Firm tofu pieces in an orange sauce with a light kick. Use any vegetables you desire and serve over rice noodles!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegetable oil for frying
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 (16 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cut into strips
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili paste
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 carrots, sliced
Instructions
- Heat 1/4 cup oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Place the 1/4 cup cornstarch in a dish; press tofu slices in the cornstarch to coat on all sides. Stir-fry in the wok 5 minutes, or until golden brown on all sides. Drain tofu on paper towels. Allow wok to cool, and wipe clean.
- In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, orange juice, water, sugar, chili paste, and cornstarch until smooth.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the wok, and stir-fry the carrots until tender. Form a well in the center of the carrots, and pour in the sauce. Bring sauce to a boil. Mix tofu into the wok, and continue cooking until coated with the sauce.
- We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount may vary depending on cook time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Reviews
I did a few modifications to this including I use a paper towel to drain the tofu and i add garlic and ground pepper to the corn starch Honey to taste instead of sugar in the sauce and 1/2 a serrano pepper diced to the sauce Added more veggies (usually i use carrots, broccoli, string beans, sugar snap peas etc.. i cook the carrots and broc first, then everything else. After i heat the sauce and put the tofu in, i add good amount of chopped kale at the very end and cook that for a min or two more. Awesome recipe!
Delicious! I added cauliflower and broccoli for the second carrot. We’ll put over rice!
great recipe. I added broccoli at the very end of stir frying it all together. It came out great. I also used honey instead of sugar.
My first foray into cooking with tofu and it was a success! My only substitution was peanut oil where the recipe called for sesame, and I omitted the chile peppers. I was just looking for a dish that would appease my husband and be soft enough for me to eat after a wisdom tooth removal, but after tasting this I think we’ll be eating it regularly!
Made Jasmin rice to go with this and also made extra orange sauce to go over the rice too. YUMMY!!!
This was a great base recipe for me as I am eliminating meat from my diet and needed a quick tofu recipe (“quick” being the operative word!). I took the advice of others and skipped dipping the tofu in cornstarch. I lightly sprinkled the tofu with seasoning salt and sautéed it in sesame oil, then sautéed one cup each of sliced carrots and mushrooms until they were crisp-tender. I made the OJ sauce in a separate pot (doubling the measurements and omitting the chili paste). I mixed the tofu and veggies together, added the OJ sauce, and sprinkled some sesame seeds on everything. It was absolutely delicious with rice and broccoli and took perhaps 45 minutes from start to finish. Next time I’ll add some ginger. This is now in my weekly rotation of quick, weeknight meals. Thanks for the great idea!
I made this substituting crushed rice krispies for the cornstarch and used orange juice concentrate instead of the orange juice. I did not have chili paste but added some chili powder. The orange flavor is great. One thing I tried to infuse more of the orange flavor into the tofu was after the initial frying of the tofu I quickly dropped them into the orange sauce and put them back into the frying pan just long enough for the sugars in the juice to crisp up the sides even more. Next time I will cube the tofu, put it into the orange sauce for a bit, coat and then fry the tofu.
This was kind of a disappointment. The sauce was decent but my tofu never did get brown or crispy, even though I cooked it for longer than the recipe called for. In fact, as I stir-fried it most of the cornstarch coating came off and left disgusting gelatinous globs in the wok. Another reviewer used chicken and I may try that too but as a tofu dish, it’s not for me.
The orange sauce was OK. I might use regular flour instead of corn starch next time. It turned out kind of gooey…
Loved this recipe!!
Instead of just carrots, I added broccoli and sweet peas to the stir fry. It was delicious. I will definitely make this again.
This is craveably good and I cannot wait to make it again. My two children inhaled it and went back for seconds (they are five and two years old). The only change I made was to leave out the chili sauce and add snow peas.
The family loved this especially the carnivores. I doubled it (the portions are conservative BTW). I added some bok choi and green peppers. I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil (because I prefer it). I also used extra firm and “pressed” the tofu by sticking the unwrapped/drained tofu between 2 glass baking dishes and sticking my iron skillet on top to weigh it down for 30m and then froze overnight then defrosting in the morning (leave it out and if not thawed do about 3-4 min each side at 40% power in a 1200w microwave). That gives it an even “meatier” texture. One thing to note is that more oil than average is actually absorbed (and ve so you may find that the fat estimate below is probably a bit conservative.
A great base orange sauce! Needs a bit more soy sauce, but very tasty. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again.
It was good- not as orangey as I thought it would be. I would have it again though!
I used snap peas, red bell peppers, and carrots fot the veggies. I also used a dash of sesame seeds as garnish. Other wise, made the recipe as is. It was delish. Thanks for sharing.
I gave it just 4 stars, though I made adjustments thanks to other reviews and liked it 5 stars’ worth. We were low on veggies, but I did add some green onions and a small leek. I sliced them lengthwise, then across and made matchsticks of the carrots. I also mixed a tbsp of thai orange sauce (from a jar) with a tbsp of soy sauce, added lots of fresh-squeezed orange juice, a little rice vinegar, a 1/4 tsp of blazing hot thai chili in oil (also from a jar). and a generous tsp or so of sesame oil. I sprinkled white and black sesame seeds over all before serving. It was delicious and I plan to make it again.
I was expecting the sauce to taste like real orange chicken and was disappointed in the flavor of the sauce. I even doubled the sauce to add vegetables. It was eatable but not fantastic.
I made the tofu differently, so I’m not reviewing that, but the orange sauce is killer, even though I had to leave out the chili paste! I used fresh orange juice, and didn’t have any trouble with bitterness. Thanks!
I put in more veggies which I think it needs. Good flavour.
Delicious! I had some modifications that I felt improved it though (although I felt that it’s an excellent recipe as-is). I reduced the quantity of sugar significantly (I think I’ll cut the sugar out entirely next time I make it) since the Orange Juice I used was sweet enough. Additionally, I added a few splashes of rice vinegar to the sauce and it really made the flavor of the sauce sing. Lastly, I used red pepper flakes (and lots of them) instead of chili paste and stirfried vegetables with the dish (Trader Joe’s Harvest Medley works wonderfully with this recipe). 🙂