This Air-Fried Chilli Garlic Tofu Recipe Is The Yummiest, Healthiest Dinner

When it comes to some of the healthiest ingredients in the world, it is quite difficult to beat out tofu. Tofu is traditionally prepared in East Asian countries like China and Thailand by curdling fresh soya milk, which is then pressed into solid tofu blocks. Usually found in silken as well as soft varieties, tofu is mostly consumed in India in its firm form. Firm tofu, however, has plenty of health benefits to offer. Apart from being packed with plant proteins, tofu is also chock full of antioxidants and minerals. In fact, adding tofu to your diet can help you improve heart health, help blood sugar regulation, and can also help deal with menopausal symptoms in women. 

So, given these amazing benefits of eating tofu, why don’t you add it to your healthy diet too? This might be because of the fact that tofu is quite the acquired taste because it smells of pungent soy beans—which is not the most alluring aromas in the world. However, with some recipes, you can easily counter this smell of tofu and replace it with alluring deliciousness. Making Chilli Garlic Tofu is one of the best ways of doing this. However, most Chilli Garlic Tofu recipes call for deep frying tofu, which hardly makes the dish healthy, does it? 

This air-fried Chilli Garlic Tofu recipe will help you counter all of that and create a beautiful bowl of one of the yummiest and healthiest dishes out there. Because it is air-fried, this Chinese-origin dish barely requires any oil at all. What’s more, air frying is a hassle-free cooking method which also helps make the tofu as crispy as possible. The crispy tofu can then be tossed in an umami soy sauce-based marinate and air-fried again to maintain the crispiness. Another way to make the sauce is to cook it separately over a pan and toss the crispy tofu in it right before serving it hot. 

No matter which method you choose, this Chilli Garlic Tofu recipe made in an air fryer is a great dinner option! Wondering how to cook it up? Here’s the recipe. 

Image used for representative purpose only. Image courtesy: Pexels

Ingredients: 

1 pack firm tofu 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

2 tbsp chilli sauce 

1/2 tbsp garlic, minced 

1/2 tsp ginger, minced 

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 

1 tbsp brown sugar 

1/2 cup cornflour 

2 tbsp sesame oil 

Sesame seeds, to garnish 

Green onions, chopped, to garnish 

Method: 

1. Use a tofu press or something flat and heavy to press the tofu for half an hour. This will get rid of the excess water in the tofu and help crisp it up better. 

2. Once the water is released, wash and cut the tofu into equal-sized squares. 

3. Place the tofu in a large bowl, add one tablespoon of sesame oil and the cornflour, and toss them well. 

4. Place the tofu chunks in the air fryer and cook for 10 minutes at 180 degrees. 

5. In the meantime, prepare the chilli sauce for the tofu in the same bowl. 

6. Place soy sauce, chilli sauce, garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil and mix well. 

7. Once the tofu is air fried, transfer them into the chilli sauce bowl. 

8. Give the tofu a good toss in the sauce, then transfer the tofu chunks again in the air fryer. 

9. Cook for another 10 minutes at 180 degrees. 

10. Transfer the cooked chilli garlic tofu into a serving plate. 

11. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions before serving the chilli garlic tofu hot with noodles.