Cooking on the bright side of life

This is by far my favorite tofu recipe. And this is probably the only tofu recipe my husband likes to eat. It comes with a spicy, flavorful sambal sauce, and the pickled ginger gives it a whole other layer of flavor. This recipe is from Ottolenghi’s OTK-Extra Good Things and I usually combine it with the Spiced Coconut Rice recipe from the same book.

If you don’t like cilantro, you can replace half or all of it with flat-leaf parsley. This will, of course, change the flavor, but it still adds a fresh, herbaceous note that would otherwise be missing if you simply left out the cilantro.

In case you’re wondering what makrut lime leaves are: to me, they’re the “bay leaves” of Asian cuisine. They give a dish a citrusy note. You can usually buy them frozen at asian supermarkets or – as I did – purchase a small makrut lime tree at a garden center. That way, I have a lovely citrus tree at home all year round and can simply pick a few leaves whenever I need them.

Sambal tofu with pickeled ginger

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Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the tofu

• 200-300 g firm tofu
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 100 g cashews
• Salt
• Oil

For the ginger pickle

• 20 g fresh ginger peeled and thinly sliced into small sticks
• 100 ml Rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• ¼ tsp salt

For the sambal sacue

• 30 ml olive oil
• 300 g shallots finely diced
• 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 30 g fresh large red chillies finely chopped
• 3 fresh makrut lime leaves finely chopped
• 2 star anise
• 20 g cilantro leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
• 2 g chili flakes
• ½ tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1½ Tbsp maple syrup
• 150 ml water

Method

 

1. Wrap the tofu in paper towels and, applying some pressure, remove as much liquid as possible. Then cut the tofu into cubes.
   
2. Mix garlic, lime juice, and soy sauce. Add the tofu and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
   
3. In a small saucepan, roast the cashews and season with salt. Remove from the pan, let cool, and roughly chop.
   
4. For the sambal sauce, finely chop the shallots, garlic cloves, chilies, makrut lime leaves, and coriander stems.
   
5. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, chilies, makrut lime leaves, coriander stems, and star anise, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the pickled ginger. To do this, heat the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Once the liquid starts to simmer, remove from the heat and add the ginger. Let cool.
7. After 20 minutes, when the sambal ingredients are golden brown, add the chili flakes, caraway seeds, turmeric, tomato paste, maple syrup, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Roast for another 5 minutes. Then add the water and keep warm.
8. Heat oil in a pan. Remove the tofu from the marinade and fry on all sides. After frying, toss the tofu once more in the marinade, then add it to the sambal sauce.
9. Add the coriander leaves to the pickled ginger.
   
10. Arrange the tofu on a plate and scatter the cashews and pickled ginger over the top.