tofu teriyaki

the other day, i popped in some ready made chicken terryaki  trader joe meal in the oven for my hubby.  when i pulled out the chicken i felt sick to the stomach from the smell of meat.  although the teriyaki sauce heating up in a seperate pan smelled pretty darn good. i was inspired to cook up some tofu teriyaki during the week.

running short of time during the week to prepare my dinners ( i'm currently taking 2 night classes on tues/wed/thurs this spring) i decided to make the terryaki sauce last night and marinate the tofu overnight to save time before i head to class.  all i had to do when i got home from work today was fry up the tofu.  i even garnished it with onions from my garden!  yummmm.

teriyaki sauce marinade ingredients:
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of water
2 tbsp of ginger
4 tbsp of brown sugar
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup of cold water

directions:
1) combine 1 cup water, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
2) in a bowl, dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold water and add to sauce.
3) stir constantly to allow the sauce to thicken on medium low heat. if the sauce is too thick add a little water or soy to thin.
4)  set sauce aside to cool.

teriyaki tofu ingredients:
a block of tofu
1/2-1cup of cornstarch
teriyaki sauce
vegetable or canola oil
sliced chives or green onions

tofu preparation:
1)  cube a block of tofu.  http://www.cookthink.com/reference/309/How_to_cube_tofu
2)  place in a container or large ziplock bag.
3)  pour teriyaki sauce over tofu making sure that all the tofu is completely covered.  marinate  a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.  do not use all the teriyaki sauce.  make sure you reserve at least 1/2-1cup for the finished dish.
4) in a frying pan, heat oil on medium heat.  put enough oil in the pan brown the tofu cubes.  you are not deep frying them!
5) on a flat surface or plate sprinkle a 1/2 cup of cornstarch evenly coating surface.  take tofu cubes out of the marinade (make sure you shake off any extra marinade) and lightly coat all sides of the tofu cube with the cornstarch.

6)  fry tofu cubes until all sides are brown.  about 2-3 minutes on each side.
7)  in a bowl, toss fried tofu and the remainder of the teriyaki sauce.  garnish with chives and enjoy!