There are a few tofu dishes that I go back to on repeat, and this sweet and spicy version is one of them. It pretends to be complicated, but it’s really just me, a frying pan, and a couple of bottles from the fridge door. Twenty minutes and you’ve got crisp, golden cubes in a sauce that’s sticky enough to make you wonder why you ever put up with soggy tofu.
The trick is in the corn flour. Coating the tofu helps it brown and crisp in the pan (or the air fryer, if you’d like to use less oil). But the real magic happens when the tofu meets the sauce – the little bit of corn flour clinging to each piece thickens it up as it cooks. At first the sauce looks like a sad, thin soup. Two minutes later, it’s shiny, clingy, and holding on to every piece of tofu like it means it.
The sauce itself is a no-brainer: ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, oyster sauce, and a pinch of chilli powder. It’s sweet, spicy, tangy, and unapologetically sticky. Add sesame seeds and spring onion greens at the end so it feels like you made an effort, even if you didn’t.
SWEET & SPICY TOFU
Ingredients
- 200 grams firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons corn flour
- 1-2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
- 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds, to serve
- Spring onion greens, to serve
Instructions
- Cube the tofu into approx 1.5 inch pieces. Coat the pieces evenly in corn flour. You want them coated well on all sides.
- Mix all the sauces in a bowl and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons of water to this and stir. Set aside.
- Heat half the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the tofu pieces to the pan without overlaps.
- Cook until they've crisped and browned on all sides, adding more oil if necessary. Remove and set aside.
- Add the sauce to the same pan over medium heat. Cook for 2 mins (it will look watery at this stage, but the corn flour in the tofu will thicken it up).
- Add the tofu to the sauce and cook over high heat until the sauce coats the tofu in a sticky glaze.
- Toss in the sesame seeds and spring onion tops. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot.
Notes
- Serves 2 as a side with fried rice.
- To reduce the amount of oil, you could also use an air fryer to brown the tofu.
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