CRISPY FRIED TOFU, LIGHTLY-SALTED AND GLAZED WITH NAVAL ORANGE REDUCTION. LEMONY SESAME BOK CHOY SALAD WITH FUJI APPLE, RED ONION, AND CARROT JULIENNE.
I get occasional cravings for the thick, sweet goop that Chinese take-out calls “orange chicken” and “orange tofu” just like the next person. Unfortunately, Chinese take-out doesn’t usually sit well with New Year’s resolutions, so it was up to me to figure out how to twist a sugary mess into something a bit lighter and fresher. With the help of some bags of fresh Fuji apples and naval oranges, our bok choy bounty, and a desire for something new (because garlic bok choy, while great, can get repetitive), I decided to roll with a raw salad alongside some fried tofu glazed with a naval orange reduction (culinary lingo for an intensified sauce or liquid with a lot of the water boiled away). As much as Pea loves meat, this vegetarian dish ended up being one of Pea’s all-time favorite Boo dishes!
The most intensive part of the dish is probably just slicing everything for the salad into fine matchsticks, or julienne. Although a little time-consuming, it’s a great way to hone your knife skills, and I personally find prep work therapeutic! You’ll find quite a few methods for cutting vegetables into julienne, and some vegetables might be a little trickier than others – but here’s an idea of how I worked the bok choy (by separating the leaves from the stems first, then stacking the stems and rolling the leaves):
Pea has been a little busy learning to be a fantastic doctor recently, but if you have a willing, or unwilling, helper around, they can shallow-fry the tofu and make the sauce while the salad is being put together to save quite a bit of time. Yes, I said shallow-fry because the salad is a good enough reason to have a little bit of fried in the dish, right? – Boo
P.S. make this vegetarian dish vegan by eliminating or replacing the honey! Since there isn’t much honey in the original recipe, and so many other flavors, just taking it out wouldn’t sacrifice much at all!
Servings: 3 (full courses)
Difficulty: 
Bok choy salad:
- Vegetable julienne
0.5 lb bok choy
1 (medium) Fuji apple
3 oz carrot
0.25 red onion - Seasoning
2 tb lemon juice
0.5 tb sesame oil
0.5 tb honey
0.5 tb soy sauce
1 ts mirin
0.25 ts salt
0.25 ts black pepper
0.25 ts garlic powder - 2 ts sesame seeds
- 2-4 tb minced cilantro, to taste
- Separate bok choy leaves from stems, and julienne in small stacks.
- In a large bowl, toss seasoning with vegetable julienne.
- In a small pan, toast sesame seeds over medium heat until aromatic, ~1 minute.
- Toss sesame seeds and cilantro into salad.
- Cover and refrigerate until use.
Orange tofu:
- 1-1.25 lb soft tofu
- Orange reduction
1 c orange juice
0.5 tb honey
1 ts soy sauce
2 thin slices ginger
pinch of salt - sea salt, coarse
- Divide tofu into 6 square logs, and set on paper towels to dry.
- In a small pan, reduce orange juice over medium heat until slightly thickened, 6-10 minutes.
- Stir remaining orange reduction ingredients into pan, and keep warm.
- Shallow fry tofu logs until golden-brown on all sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Set over paper towels to drain, 1 minute.
- Glaze tofu with orange reduction, and lightly salt. Serve with apple bok choy salad.