Skip the meat and make these light and fresh Hoisin Tofu Lettuce Cups for a fast and easy vegetarian weeknight dinner.
Prep Time45 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Total Cost: $6.12 recipe / $1.53 serving
Servings: 42 cups each
Ingredients
14oz.extra firm tofu$1.79
1/4tspsalt$0.02
2Tbspcornstarch$0.08
2Tbspcooking oil$0.08
1/2cuphoisin sauce$0.89
2green onions$0.25
1carrot$0.15
1/4cuppeanuts$0.12
1cupcooked rice $0.25
1headlettuce*$2.49
Instructions
Remove your tofu from the package and place it between two plates or rimmed baking sheets. Place something heavy on top, like a cast iron skillet, to weigh it down and press out the excess liquid. Let the tofu press for about 30 minutes. Pour off the liquid and pat the tofu dry with a paper towel.
Roughly chop the block of tofu into small, irregular shapes. Place the chopped tofu in a bowl and sprinkle with salt and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Fold the tofu and cornstarch together until coated, then add a second tablespoon of cornstarch and fold again.
Heat the cooking oil in a large non-stick skillet (cast iron or teflon, your choice) over medium. Once hot, add the cornstarch coated tofu. Allow the tofu to cook until golden brown on the bottom, then stir and let cook until golden brown on bottom again. Repeat this process until most of the tofu is golden and crispy on the edges (about 10 minutes total), then remove it from the heat.
Add the hoisin sauce to the fried tofu and stir to coat. Slice the green onion and shred the carrot. Roughly chop the peanuts.
To build the lettuce cups, spoon 1-2 Tbsp cooked rice into each lettuce leaf, top with 1-2 Tbsp of the hoisin tofu, then sliced green onion, shredded carrot, and chopped peanuts. Enjoy!