Tofu has historically been a problem food for us. While we love eating it when other people prepare it, it has been a culprit in some of our hugest cooking disasters to date.

Until today, we had never really been able to make our tofu taste like anything except plain tofu, and we definitely had never succeeded in changing its texture from soft and mushy to firm and gummy. This meal marked concrete progress on both fronts. This orange tofu has taste — it’s sweet, orangey, savory, and delicious, and it’s even a bit crunchy around the edges!

We attribute the success to a first attempt at this “pressing and draining” technique we’ve been hearing so much about around the blogs. Lesson learned: if everyone else is doing it, there’s probably a reason for it.

This tofu went wonderfully over a healthy version of coconut rice (no milk, just toasted coconut, ginger, and lemongrass stirred in). It’s definitely a recipe to add into the weeknight rotation.

Ingredients:
two block firm tofu
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup sherry
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions:
Drain and press tofu by placing blocks in between two thick layers of paper towels (about 3 sheets per layer). Place a heavy item, like a baking dish with water, on top of the tofu. Press tofu for two hours, changing the paper towels after one hour. Whisk together orange juice, sherry, soy sauce, brown sugar, ground ginger, and lemon zest. Place tofu in a baking dish, and pour marinade over it, turning tofu over to make sure there’s marinade on both sides. Let marinate for 30 minutes, and then preheat the oven to 375. Bake tofu covered with aluminum foil for 20 minutes, then without foil for an additional 15 minutes. Drain marinade, and reserve for pouring over tofu later. Turn on the broiler, and broil tofu for an additional 5-7 minutes until browned. Serve over coconut rice with extra marinade.