crispy tofu bowls with crunchy chili peanut sauce
and why you've been making your tofu all wrong until now
Happy Sunday and welcome back to dinner, sorted. Let’s get your dinner, sorted.
I’ve been getting lots of requests for veggie-friendly meals, and frankly, with the amount of turkey I’ve been eating in preparation for my Thanksgiving guide, it is warmly welcomed. So this week’s dinner, sorted is a full-blown protein-packed veg-forward recipe.
Now for the meat lovers - before you scoff at a tofu recipe, might I request that you just trust me? Have I steered you wrong yet? I’ve converted many tofu haters, and this version might be my best yet.
There a few tricks to getting tofu fabulous that many recipes miss.
freezing it first. This allows the water to expand inside the tofu, thus expanding the air pockets when it melts. This leads to a much squishier, meatier texture.
marinating it second. Since we’ve opened up a bunch of pockets in our tofu, it’s primed for soaking up anything we add to it, packing it with flavor.
crisping it third. We use oil, cornstarch, and high heat to give the exterior a nice crunchy coating. But like many “crispy tofu” recipes, it’s not just aggressively crispy on the outside while extremely dry and lacklustre in the centre. No, the centre here is tender but not too soft, and flavorful with every bite.
and why not throw a fire sauce on it too. It’s honestly fabulous without the sauce, but why not just take it up one final notch. It’s not exactly a peanut sauce, it’s more of a chili crisp sauce with a hint of peanut butter. It’s crispy, salty, sweet, loaded with umami, and just that hint of peanut butter to round it all out.
And that’s it. It may seem like a lot but this can all be done pretty easily and quickly and I’m about to show you how below.