Sesame-Crusted Tofu Teriyaki Bowls

crispy crunchy sticky sweet & VEGAN

I come to you today with one last recipe from the beach.

The dream of this dish has been honey-stuck in my brain since the first hot days of September, when I ate a tofu teriyaki bowl from a food stall on the Rockaway boardwalk. (If you’re keeping track, this is just ten blocks down from Brothers, where last month’s smoothie comes from. My matrilineal-spiritual devotion to the sea continues to reap professional rewards.¹) The die-sized cubes of tofu were crisp on all sides—deep fried, maybe?—and there was enough sauce to bleed generously into the rice. There were even a couple pickle-y garnishes to make me feel like I was getting at least a half serving of vegetables. This was comfort food, a sticky sweetness familiar to anyone who grew up on mall food court samples. Take that bit of chicken on a toothpick, whisper a gentle vegan song into its ear, and you will arrive at this rice bowl, meatless and punchy without going full health food. I ate the last bites of it under Lindsey’s shibumi shade, listening to the breezy soundtrack of lifeguards tweeting their whistles at all the people swimming in the no-swim zone. Heaven!!

Since that afternoon, the weather has (mostly, haha) cooled down, and I’ve returned to my kitchen in full force. I knew I wanted to make my own version of that dish, to turn a dream beach lunch into a dream weeknight dinner.