sesame tofu

deep frying previously frozen tofu gets you the exact texture of chicken mcnuggets.

recipe:
walker used the serious eats sesame chicken recipe to make the sauce and i used the serious eats method for fried tofu.

method:

this is good with both fresh or thawed from frozen firm tofu but the texture differs. either way, cut into cubes and remove as much surface moisture as possible.
start cooking rice.
heat oil in pan and cook broccoli until it gets some charred spots. remove and set aside. if you're using frozen, thaw it in the microwave for a couple minutes first.
mix the tofu batter. it works with all water if you want to skip the vodka. i haven't noticed much of a difference either way, and used 1/4 cup vodka + 3/4 cup water this time.
i toss the tofu cubes in a few tbsp of cornstarch before battering but it's probably not necessary and isn't even in the recipe.
heat up oil for frying. the recipe wants you to deep fry but you can get away with shallow frying, which i maintain is different from pan-frying. i put down about 1/2 inch of oil in a 10 inch cast iron skillet and bring it to about 350.
dunk the tofu cubes in the batter and transfer to the hot oil. i can fit about 1/3 of the tofu cubes in my pan at one time leaving plenty of space between them, so i only batter that many at a time. you'll want to flip the cubes a few times until the tofu is golden all over. transfer to a paper towel lined rack.
pour out most of the oil (i filter and save it in a jar for future frying) and make the sauce in the pan. return the tofu and broccoli to the pan to coat with the sauce. serve immediately with rice.