Orange Tofu Stir Fry

So one of the basic Asian American dishes consists of something in Orange sauce.  Whether it is orange chicken, tofu, or vegetables, typically fried first to make a crispy skin using cornstarch and then smothered in a thick sauce eaten right away to enjoy the smooth and crunchy contrast.

Orange sauce works because it is sweet, salty and sour all at the same time. And oranges seem to brighten the umaminess out of soy sauce and provide a good depth of flavor.  The challenge is bringing the right balance to a dish.  Some places make it taste so orangy that you don’t get the flavor of anything else, or there is so much sweetness that you feel like your food was coated in Tang and nothing feels fresh.  I find the key is the soy sauce. A good soy sauce brings all of the salt and umami, and then adding orange juice brings acidity, and the added sugar balances the acid with the salt. 

The Table Catering has been working on how soy sauce is made. It’s not a complicated process but it is a process that takes a lot of time and that is why it is not seen being made everywhere.  A first batch of soy sauce may take up to two years to produce.  That’s because it takes that much time for the koji mold on cooked soy to produce and eat away to make the rich dark color we know that is soy.  

A style of soy sauce that is most common is soybeans and cracked wheat mixed together.  The wheat is toasted and adds some nutty flavor and color.  Our first batched used toasted Capay mills flour so the soy generated more of a cloudiness that has already then in it a starch that becomes a thickener.  Other flavors too can be added while the soy is fermenting. I like bay leaves, dried chilies, and Black Woodear mushrooms. 

One thing I learned about making soy sauce is that there is a big aroma.  There is much more aroma than the soy in bottles on the shelve.  And there is much more flavorful things going on than the bottles on the shelf.  Therefore, less in needed to make a big impact. And that is good for making sure one batch can stretch longer.  

So with house made soy sauce in hand, a fast food favorite in asian american cuisine gets transformed into a unique experience, where we fry tofu cubes dusted in cornstarch in olive oil, then sear sliced carrots and mixed it all together in an orange sauce that’s base is formed from a soy sauce that had been fermenting for 2 years in a barrel with other aromats.  The overall dish is not super sweet or super tangy. The oranges brighten with light flavor and honey is added for sweetness.