This Five Spice Tofu with Chili Ginger Sauce is so fast and easy to make. It’s sweet, sticky & spicy with amazing depth of flavour. A perfect mid-week meal!
I love food that is packed with BIG flavours, and I love vegan tofu recipes, and this Five Spice Tofu with Chili Ginger Sauce is so full of bold flavour and tofu, that it can’t possibly disappoint.
It is also incredibly quick and easy to make. In fact, it can be cooked in the time it takes a pan of rice to cook.
Tofu seems to have a bit of a bad rep but cooked well, it is really good. I think a lot of people have a bad first experience with it because they don’t know how to cook it properly. It’s sad because tofu really deserves some love! Start with this recipe and you will be a fan for life!
FREEZE TOFU FOR THE BEST TEXTURE
In my recipe notes at the end I explain all about freezing and pressing tofu to get a better texture. You don’t have to freeze or press it before making this recipe but you will get a crispier result and a better texture if you do. Once pressed, all you need to do is dredge it in gently spiced flour, fry until deliciously crispy (with or without oil) then smother it in the lip smackingly delicious sauce.
This Five Spice Tofu with Chili Ginger Sauce is seriously the bomb! If you know any tofu sceptics then this might well be the dish to win them around.
The sauce itself only takes about ten minutes to make but can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge. It keeps well for up to one week and just needs to be gently reheated before serving. It also freezes well. I often make double and freeze half as I like to have some emergency fast food in the freezer for those times when I’m too exhausted to cook.
HOW TO SERVE FIVE SPICE TOFU WITH CHILI GINGER SAUCE
Serve this Five Spice Tofu with Chili Ginger Sauce with generous amounts of fluffy rice, noodles, quinoa or other grains. A sprinkling of sesame seeds, chopped green onions or finely diced red chili finish it off really nicely.
Let me know what you think by rating this Five Spice Tofu with Chili Ginger Sauce and leaving your feedback below and if you love tofu and big flavours be sure to check out my Tofu in Purgatory!
Five Spice Tofu with Chili Ginger Sauce
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2 large cloves garlic , either grated or chopped very finely
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (see recipe note)
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch, (arrowroot gives a better look to the sauce)
- 60mls | 1/4 cup rice vinegar (you can sub this for apple cider vinegar )
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil (omit to make recipe oil free)
- 120mls | 1/2 cup natural tomato ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Tamari (you can sub this for soy sauce or coconut aminos )
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 60mls | 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 240mls | 1 cup water
For the tofu
- 1 large block firm tofu , that has been pressed and cubed (see recipe note)
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (you can sub this for gluten-free flour if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
Instructions
For the sauce
- Add the arrowroot/cornstarch to a pan and slowly add the vinegar, stirring as you go to make sure there are no lumps.
- Now add all of the other sauce ingredients and stir well.
- Place over a medium/low heat and and keep stirring until it becomes thick and silky. Don't stop stirring as it will get lumpy. It will take about 10 minutes. Once thick turn down to the lowest setting possible and keep warm.
For the tofu
- Cut the pressed tofu into bite sized cubes.
- Mix the chinese five spice into the flour then pour over the tofu and toss to make sure every cube is coated well.
- Heat a non stick fry pan over a medium to high heat. If you want to use oil add it to the pan.It is optional. Using oil will make the tofu crispier. It's still good without though.If you choose not to use oil then be sure to use a non stick pan.
- Once the pan/oil is very hot add the tofu. Cook on each side until golden brown and crispy. It will take 5 - 10 minutes to cook on all sides.
- Remove from the heat and set aside. If you used oil put it on some paper towel to soak off any excess.
- To serve you can toss the tofu through the sauce or you can serve it separately and have everyone drizzle their own tofu at the table.
Notes
Estimated nutrition per serving:
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
marie says
This is amazing. I loved it. My 5 spice mixture was a bit heavy on the cinammon though (certainly not your fault!!)… have you ever substituted it for anything else? I love the consistency of the sauce, it’s sticky and wonderful. I would love to reduce the cinnamon flavour a bit but don’t want to mess up such a great recipe!! ha ha – I am making it again tonight!!
Melanie McDonald says
I’m really pleased you enjoyed it! This recipe is still really good without the 5 spice. I’ve run out and made it without it a few times. Or you could reduce the 5 spice by half and see how you go. Even down to a quarter of the amount and add more to the sauce to taste if you feel it needs it. And the tofu is fine with just the flour to coat it if you want to reduce the 5 spice a bit more. Maybe add a little salt and black pepper to the flour to make up for it. Enjoy!!
Alli says
Starting making this and then realised I didn’t have chinese five spice! Still tasted fantastic – I used GF flour and pepper for the tofu and simply omitted the five spice for the sauce. Will have to try again with the right ingredients ;) Thanks for the clear instructions – made a huge difference. One tip – I didn’t have ‘natural’ tomato sauce so next time I’ll reduce the maple syrup considerably to allow for this & reduce the sweetness a little.
Thanks for a great recipe :)
Peter says
Thank you = that’s the yummiest thing I have made for ages.
Dawn says
Do you use all of the sauce for this? I’d like to double the ingredients as well as add veggies and want to ensure I have enough sauce, though don’t want to make too much!
A Virtual Vegan says
You do use all of the sauce, but I do like things very saucy so there is a generous amount. You could probably get away with doubling the ingredients, but I would double the sauce too just to be safe. If you don’t use it all it will keep for up to a week in the fridge and it freezes well so it wouldn’t go to waste.
Sarah says
Gorgeous sweet sticky sauce – so easy to make for a non cook like me! The tofu crisped up really nicely too after following your tips – can I freeze the remainder after it has been pressed and dried?
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Sarah. Yes it will be fine to freeze. It changes the texture a little, but for the better in my opinion.
Wendy says
So are you freezing the fresh block of tofu or do you press it then freeze it?, I am familiar with oressing but have never frozen before seems like it would give it a. Ice chewy texture.
A Virtual Vegan says
As soon as I get it home I freeze it in it’s packaging without opening it. I am not sure of the science behind it, but I think it must be something to do with the ice crystals forming inside it and breaking it down that makes it better. Then I defrost it and press it before cooking with it. If I forget to defrost it the day before (which often happens), I just soak it in a sink of warm water to hurry it along.The texture is completely different when done this way and I love it!
Wendy says
To be clear we are talking abiut fresh tofu in water correct? Not the aceptic packaged kind like mori-nu?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes fresh tofu in water, extra firm in particular I think is best. ????
Laloofah says
This looks so delicious I wish I could just reach through my computer screen with my fork & leave your future readers to wonder why your post has a photo of an empty bowl on it. LOL I appreciate your offering oil-free alternatives/tips in your recipes that call for oil. I just want to mention that I never heat my non-stick (Berndes) pans on anything higher than medium heat, and seldom even that. For one thing, it can ruin the coating, for another it can release toxic fumes: https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/april/teflon.htm
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha! That made me laugh. Virtual eating. Maybe the calories wouldn’t count then ;O) As for Teflon coated pans, I don’t personally use them for the reasons you have stated. There are some excellent non-stick pans around now that do not contain Teflon. I have a great Starfrit The Rock pan. They are non-stick and have no chemically weird coating. They are also really reasonably priced.