This is a really tasty recipe and you can rustle it together in around 30 minutes. The tofu has a wonderful crispiness and the sauce is really tasty. It works great with rice or noodles.
Method for Cooking Crispy Chilli Tofu
To make the tofu crispy, you cut it into small slices, coat it in cornflour and then fry it in some sesame oil in a pan. I use around 2 tablespoons of oil and find this creates a really nice crispiness.
You cook until the tofu is stating to brown and then turn them over and cook on the other side. You might need to do this in more than one batch, depending on the size of your pan. I was able to do this in one batch using quite a large pan.
Once your tofu is cooked, you set it aside and then use the pan to cook the veg.
First you add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and then cook the onions and garlic for around five minutes and then add the chopped pepper and sliced carrot. Cook for another few minutes.
Separately you mix your sauce ingredients together. Then add the sauce to the pan with the vegetables. Then you add back the tofu and stir in.
For this version I have gone with rice but this is great with either rice or noodles. For a more nutritious meal, choose a wholegrain variety.
Crispy Chilli Tofu Sauce
Along with the crispy tofu, it’s the sauce that really makes this recipe. It’s a wonderful mix of flavours. You can change the repice around, leave out the tofu, use different veg, it will still be great with this sauce.
If you want to try some other tofu recipes, check out my Pad Thai with Tofu and The Best Breakfast Tofu Scramble with Spinach.
Takeaway Style Crispy Chilli Tofu
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 280 g tofu
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp ginger (fresh grated)
- 50 g cornflour
- 180 g carrot (one medium)
- 1 pepper (red, yellow or orange)
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 spring onions
- 300 g rice (cooked according to packet instructions)
Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp sriracha sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
Instructions
- Drain the tofu as much as possible and then chop into bite size pieces. Sprinkle some cornflour onto a plate and roll the tofu pieces in the cornflour.
- Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to a pan and once hot, add the tofu pieces. Cook for around 8 minutes altogether, flipping them over every few minutes so that they brown a little on each side.
- Once the tofu is browned, remove them from the pan.
- Make the sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients together in a cup and stirring together.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes until the onions start to soften. Add the chopped pepper, sliced carrot and grated ginger and stir. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sauce to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for another 5 minutes on a medium heat.
- Add the tofu back to the pan and stir into the sauce. Cook for a minute or two to bring the tofu back up to serving temperature.
- Serve with some rice or noodles. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds and top with chopped spring onion.
