The weekend has always been a time to treat ourselves. We used to love getting a cheeky Chinese takeaway or kebab from up the road on a Saturday night. Well, kebabs may be a thing of the past for us now but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a sticky sweet and sour Chinese meal! This recipe is courtesy of Bosh! (I have tweaked it a little) and what I love is that it is so easy and tastes so much like the real thing. Honestly, it does! The tofu is incredibly crispy and the sauce is deliciously sticky. It’s one of those meals that I eat and then instantly wish I could eat all over again…
I have made it with different fruit juices (whatever I have in the house) and it’s always yummy (even if it changes the flavour slightly). Also, this is a great meal to use up whatever leftover veg you have. Crispy kale is a real favourite in our house but you could easily use broccoli, bok choi, carrots, cabbage, beans….go wild!
I also like to serve it with red or brown rice. If you have a rice cooker put the rice on before beginning the meal and it will be ready at the perfect time.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
- 1 x 280g block firm tofu (or 300g or even 400g if that’s what you have!)
- 75g Corn flour
- 2 lemons (or 4 TBL of bottled lemon juice)
- 250ml Orange Juice (or whatever fruit juice you have!)
- 100g Sweet Chilli Sauce (Or click here to make your own)
- 1 TBL sriracha or other chilli sauce
- 3 TBL soy sauce
- 1 red pepper
- Bunch of kale
- 1 spring onion, to serve (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds, to serve (optional)
- Other add-ins: Bok Choi, carrots, broccoli, beans
Method: (Heat oven to 200 degrees celsius)
- First, press the tofu by draining the water and then wrapping the block of tofu in a tea towel. Place something heavy on it such as a book and leave it for at least 20 minutes or a few hours!
- Slice the tofu in 1cm wide sticks. Roll the tofu in cornflour, making sure you’re using as much corn flour as possible. This way it will go extra crispy!
- Poor oil in the pan so it coats the bottom (I use sesame oil). Place pan on a medium/high heat and fry the tofu for 5 minutes, turning every 2 minutes or so.
- While the tofu is cooking, make the sauce! Add the lemon juice, orange juice, sweet chilli sauce, sriracha and soy sauce to a pan and bring to the boil. Then simmer for 5-7 until it’s syrupy in texture.
- Once the tofu is done place on a paper towel to mop up any excess oil
- Slice the pepper finely and add to the tofu pan, cooking on a medium heat. You could add any other veg at this stage like broccoli.
- Chop kale finely and coat with a little salt. Place it on a baking tray with baking paper and bake in the oven on 200 degrees for 10 minutes until crispy!
- Once the pepper has cooked a little, add the tofu back in the pan along with the sauce. Make sure everything is coated and let it simmer on a low/medium heat for up to 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.
- Serve with spring onions or sesame seeds on top and steamed rice!
If you’ve tried this recipe I would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or SUBSCRIBE via email so you never miss a delicious recipe again! 😀