Baked spicy tofu

This beautiful spiced and baked tofu has unlimited possibilities. It is a master recipe which I use in sandwiches, as croutons in a salad, in noodle soups, in  a stir fry, in fried rice and anywhere else that you feel like adding some spiced tofu bits and pieces. For all the meat lovers, this reminds them of a wonderful juicy seared steak.

I normally do this, when some recipes just call for a small amount of tofu and the balance needs to be stored back in water. Instead of doing that I marinate the rest of the block to use in any of the applications above. Over time, I will publish the recipes where I use this baked tofu.

¾ lb (12 oz) tofu, cut into 2 rectangular slabs about ½ to ¾ inches thick

Marinade

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic sauce

1 tablespoon clover honey

½ tablespoon tomato ketchup

1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and pour onto the tofu slabs. It is best to marinate the slabs in one layer so that the marinade seeps into all the tofu pieces. Keep refrigerated for a minimum 24 hours to a maximum of 2 days.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
3. Remove the tofu from the marinade and place the tofu slabs on a baking sheet. Save the marinade for basting. 
4. Place the sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on how crispy you would like the crust to be. The picture above is taken after baking for 1 hour. Flip the tofu pieces every 15 minutes to get a even color on both sides and baste with the marinade.
5. Serve as is with other dishes or in any of the applications above.