Crispy Tofu and Broccoli With Ginger-Garlic Teriyaki Sauce

Recently learned that you can buy gingerroot, give it a good scrub under running water, pat dry, then freeze. When you need it in a recipe, trim off any dried-up end and grate on a microplane, skin and all. Works beautifully! Skin is not noticeable. Much faster and less fiddly than peeling and grating unfrozen ginger.

I often prepare tofu this way (actually, I use a combination of cornstarch and potato starch) but in addition to the salt and pepper added to this, I also add some garlic powder and onion powder.

Taking a tip from Korean fried foods, I always now use potato starch instead of cornstarch for things like this.

Just to be clear for people claiming they don't use sugar... maple syrup, agave, honey, and so on, are chemically about 98% sugar (mostly fructose, in the case of agave) -- with tiny traces of minerals and other stuff (not enough to count towards your RDA). Orange juice has the same amount of sugar as canned soda Maybe they taste better, but the sugar content is roughly the same as just using cane sugar.

This is tasty and easy to put together. I craved a little more excitement, so I drizzled some chili crisp over the tofu at the table. Also, if you are tempted to press the tofu--don't. I think mine would have had a better (softer inside) texture if I'd just followed the instructions instead of trying to be clever.

Would you consider using bottled teriyaki sauce and adding the ginger & garlic?

You can do either. Without starch, it will just be crispy fried tofu, which is yum. With starch, it will have a sticky-crispy outer shell that's fun and absorbs the sauce well. In Japanese Tofu Teriyaki bowls, the tofu is usually coated in starch and then fried.

I buy my garlic and ginger in bulk and grate it in my food processor ( i don’t bother peeling the ginger)- then i put it into an ice cube tray that came with a slide on lid and freeze- then dump out and put in ziplock freezer bags. Then when i need an inch of grated ginger one of these cubes is perfect and you can cut them up as well if you don’t need a tbsp of garlic for example. Save a lot of time and just makes it more likely i’ll make a healthy meal like this one.

I use arrowroot instead of cornstarch to roast tofu. Turns out great

The slabs of tofu were kind of rubbery and unpleasant. In the future, I would tear the tofu into small pieces and toss in cornstarch, a la Ali Slagle. I used one block of tofu but kept everything else the same for me and my hubs.

Make the sauce first as it takes more time than the tofu and vegetables!

I use my vegetable peeler to scrape off the skin (a spoon also does the trick) and freeze the gingerroot. I use a microplane to grate the frozen chunk, using the amount I need. Works every time.

I have a (negative) thing about sweet food. Any thoughts about if I reduced or left out the sugar?

Um, yes. Making this tonight. So excited about this family friendly, simple sheet pain dinner. More of the same please! Probably adding thin slices of carrots to the broccoli.

I never use sugar in my cooking, but I do use maple syrup, agave, and brown rice syrup (which might go nicely in this dish, since it's not as sweet as the others). You could add one of these in a smaller amount for a tinge of sweetness.