How to Can Cook an Entire Homemade Teriyaki Dinner With Ease
David here. You’ve probably gotten the picture by now, if you’ve been following our recipes or our Instagram, that comfort food is a big deal for me and Mars. Not only do we think that every recipe we’ve published fits into the category of comfort food... We kinda think any food can be a comfort food.
Food is inherently personal, emotional, nostalgic, and comforting — And why wouldn’t it be? Nourishment should be a comforting thing! Cooking allows us (as a species) to elevate nourishment beyond necessity. We can bring ourselves comfort and ease by preparing or purchasing foods we know and love, stirring up memories and associations that bring us comfort and joy. In a time like we’re facing right now — with raw nerves and worries galore — nostalgic, we tend to think that comforting foods are worth their weight in gold!
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, teriyaki was a staple comfort food for me. Usually, it was from a strip-mall hole-in-the-wall joint, eaten from styrofoam containers at home or plastic plates on wobbly tables in a tiny restaurant between a pizza place and a sandwich shop… Those meals are burned in my mind, in the best way. The thing is, those meals were decidedly non-vegan. And even though we’re very lucky that so many local Teriyaki restaurants have vegan options... I still miss those teriyaki combo plates that I grew up with. You know the ones: Listed on a handwritten “today’s special” sign by the cash register... Grilled chicken, syrupy sauce, steamed rice, iceberg salad with sweet-tangy-creamy dressing... There’s not an option to stir up those memories with the vegan dishes available in restaurants. So, since I wanted to have a vegan version of that meal, I made it myself!
In the process of developing this recipe, which took a while, I turned our kitchen into a take-out-at-home test kitchen. Many many batches of sauce were made with tiny tweaks here and there. Finding the balance of the elusive “Teriyaki Restaurant Dressing” took a while! The good news is that meant I got to eat a lot of broiled tofu, which is the best. We’ve already posted all of these elements separately — but I hope this “recipe” will help you make a meal out of four recipes without losing your mind. The instructions are a bit simplified from their solo posts and interwoven at times to help you multitask. There’s even a pretty good, otherwise unpublished-on-here method for steamed white rice woven in there.
In around 45 minutes (even less if using a rice cooker), you’ll have tofu that’s crisp-tender with leopard-spotted charring on the outside, thick and sweet restaurant-style teriyaki sauce, fluffy steamed rice, and a classic side salad with sweet-tangy-creamy dressing. Put something nostalgic on the stereo, take a few minutes to tidy up your kitchen and gather ingredients, and enjoy the best dang vegan teriyaki dinner you can’t get at a restaurant.
Tips & Info
Steamed white rice is a quintessential part of this meal. To be honest, we typically let our hand-me-down rice cooker do the work when we’re making a teriyaki dinner. It’s an easy, set-it-and-forget-it appliance that makes perfect rice for us every time (it’s a little quicker than the stovetop, too). Rice cookers are available in a variety of prices, quality levels, and sizes — But we also know that not everyone has room to store a uni-tasker kitchen appliance! Not to mention, we don’t expect you to rush out and buy one right this second. So we’ve included a method in the recipe below for cooking rice on the stovetop. It’ll make 2-3 servings (~3 cups of fluffed rice) of fluffy, perfectly steamed rice in a little under 40 minutes.
Speaking of rice: While traits vary between varieties, long-grain white rice will have a lightly aromatic, subtly sweet quality on its own that doesn’t require salt to bring it forward. To achieve the flavor associated with a classic teriyaki plate, skip the salt! Trust us.
And don’t forget to rinse your rice! This is an important step because it reduces clumping and makes the cooked rice fluffier by washing off the starchy, dusty powder that builds up on dry rice. We recommend using a fine-mesh strainer for ease, but you can also use your cooking pot by draining the rice carefully between several changes of water.
Get your kitchen ready by tidying, cleaning, and organizing your tools before you start. There’s nothing worse than searching around drawers and countertops and your dish-drying rack for a measuring spoon while you have multiple dishes going! Take five or ten minutes to prepare your tools, organize your ingredients, etc. You’ll have a much better time cooking, trust us!
Check out the original posts for each recipe for more detailed instructions, individual recipe tips, equipment lists, etc.
Power Plant Teriyaki Special
Power Plant | David Griffin-Luna | April 18th, 2020
Time: ~45 minutes (depends on rice method)| Makes: 2-3 Power Plant Teriyaki Specials
Ingredients:
Steamed White Rice
Classic Teriyaki Restaurant Side Salad
Dressing:Salad (approx. per serving)
Teriyaki Sauce
Cornstarch Slurry (step 2)
Broiled Tofu
Preparation:
- Rinse rice in a fine strainer for 30 seconds to a minute, until the water draining is no longer cloudy.
- Combine your rinsed rice in a small/medium saucepan with 1¼ cup of water and stir gently to combine. Place over high heat on a small burner and bring to a boil (this will take around 5-7 minutes).
- Combine dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowl, whisk together until creamy and well-combined, and set aside.
- Wash a few leaves of iceberg lettuce and tear into bite-sized pieces. Shred a small amount of cabbage. Peel and shred, julienne, or thinly slice a carrot. Set these ingredients aside for plating later.
- Combine all ingredients except cornstarch slurry in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Whisk thoroughly to dissolve sugar and spices. Stir frequently until it reaches a rolling simmer — about 5 minutes.
- While that is happening, whisk together the cornstarch slurry. Set aside for next step.
- Once sauce has reached a rolling simmer, reduce heat to medium (carefully manage heat, keep sauce below a boil at this step) and whisk in the cornstarch slurry thoroughly. Stir often until it reaches a glossy, rich consistency — about 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let rest until ready to serve.
- Drain tofu and cut into halves or thirds (sliced lengthwise) and pat to dry excess moisture with a clean tea towel or paper towel. It doesn’t have to be dry-dry, just not dripping wet.
- Move an oven rack to the top position and turn your broiler on high.
- On a clean and dry dish or cutting board, brush/rub tofu with a light coating of oil. If needed, wipe or pat with a lint-free cloth or paper towel before moving to the sheet pan, leaving only a light coating of oil on the tofu. Season the top with salt and pepper to your preference.
- Broil until tops are beginning to turn from golden brown to dark at the edges — Until you see “leopard-spotting,” like on the crust of a wood-fired pizza. Timing varies greatly depending on tofu moisture, broiler, etc. Watch closely and cook for “a few minutes.” Once first side is done, remove from broiler and flip, salting the second side. Return to broiler, cooking second side until done — Another few minutes.
- Remove from broiler and let rest for a minute or two before handling.
- Rice - Remove the lid from rice pot and fluff rice with a fork. (This helps separate the grains without mushing them for perfect fluffy white rice.) Place a scoop of rice on the plate.
- Salad - Build salad next to rice, taking up about one-third of the remaining empty plate. Iceberg first, then cabbage, carrots, and a spoonful of dressing!
- Tofu - Slice tofu into long, thin strips. Place cut tofu on the remaining empty part of the plate, spreading it out in a thin layer to ensure even sauce coverage.
- Sauce - Drizzle teriyaki sauce over the top of the tofu (don’t be shy!) with a spoon or small ladle.
- Finish - If you’re feeling fancy, garnish your plate with sesame seeds and/or thinly-sliced scallion.
That’s it! You did it! You get to enjoy your own homemade Power Plant Vegan Teriyaki Special!