Black Pepper Tofu

About

I recently came across this amazing recipe. It is a great introduction to Tofu if you haven’t cooked with it before. You can also use Chicken if you want a change. Either Tofu or Chicken, it tastes great. If using chicken cut it in to cubes and crisp each side. Make sure you have the dish with cucumber pickle and rice (Prepare the cucumber pickle first). This recipe comes courtesy of Emma Galloway.

Ingredients

• Tofu (250-300g)

• Cornflour (1Tb)

• Coconut oil or Canola oil (3Tb)

• Onion (1, diced)

• Garlic (4 cloves finely sliced)

• Black pepper (2Tb of ground)

• Soy Sauce (2Tb)

• Maple Syrup or Brown sugar (2tsp)

• Spring onions (2 finely sliced)

• Coriander (optional -handful, finely chopped)

Preparation

1. Cut the tofu into cubes and mix with cornflour until evenly coated.

2. Mix garlic, pepper, soy sauce and maple syrup in a bowl and put aside. This is your sauce.

3. Add oil to a pan or wok and fry the tofu in batches making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Only turn when the tofu begins to brown and crisp.

4. Once golden brown remove the tofu from the pan and put on paper towel to drain any excess oil.

5. Dice the onion and fry in the pan on medium to high heat for a couple of minutes until it begins to turn brown.

6. Return the heat to high and add the bowl of sauce to the pan. When it begins to bubble stir the tofu and spring onions in to the mix until hot.

7. Sprinkle over coriander and serve with rice and cucumber pickle.

Cucumber Pickle

Ingredients

• Apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar (150ml or 2/3 cup)

• Brown sugar (1/3cup)

• Water (300ml)

• Salt (1 1/2tsp)

• Cucumber (1)

Preparation

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir occasionally until sugar dissolves.

2. Boil the mixture for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3. Trim the ends of the cucumber and slice into 10 cm lengths. Use a sharp knife to julienne the slices. If you want a more refined dish you can take out the seeds.

4. Once the liquid is cooled pour it over the cucumber and set aside for at least an hour.