Sydney-Inspired Sweet Chilli Tofu

A sunny Sydney memory turned into a dish – marinated tofu stir-fried with accessible chilli heat and a pop of fennel seed freshness. Balanced, vibrant, and endlessly moreish.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Course Dinner, Main

Cuisine Drawn from Asian Flavours

Servings servings

Calories 417

Ingredients

400 g firm tofu | unpressed weight
2 pinches salt
2 pinches ground black pepper
10 ml rapeseed oil

Ingredients for the marinade

30 ml light soy sauce
30 g golden caster sugar
30 ml rice wine vinegar
5 ml sesame oil
1 tsp chilli flakes

Other ingredients

250 g brown onions | unpeeled weight
3 cloves fresh garlic | peeled and thinly slice
1 red bullet chilli | sliced
180 g green beans
30 g peanuts | dry roasted or salted
15 ml rapeseed oil
1 pinch salt
30 ml light soy sauce
30 ml lemon juice
30 ml lime juice
30 g soft dark brown sugar
6 g cornflour | for cornflour slurry
5 ml water | for cornflour slurry
1 tsp fennel seeds

To serve

rice
lime | wedges
fresh coriander | neatly chopped

Instructions

Prepare and cook tofu; make marinade

Press the tofu in a tofu press, skin side up.
400 g firm tofu
Cut the tofu into little finger-sized pieces, season with salt and pepper, and fry hard in oil
10 ml rapeseed oil, 2 pinches salt, 2 pinches ground black pepper
Whilst the tofu cooks, make a marinade for the cooked tofu with the ingredients listed. Mix around to dissolve the sugar.
30 ml light soy sauce, 30 g golden caster sugar, 30 ml rice wine vinegar, 5 ml sesame oil, 1 tsp chilli flakes
When the tofu is cooked and please watch the video carefully for when the tofu is cooked enough, toss into the marinade and leave to soak. The tofu fingers must be very dry and almost hard. That is very important. Something happens to the texture and the flavour when it's hard. It's gorgeous later when all full of sauce.

Prepare the remaining ingredients

Peel and chop the onion into slim (2cm wide) petals, peel and slice the garlic, and put in a container, ready to stir fry. Slice the bullet chilli, including the seeds and add to the container with the onion and garlic.
250 g brown onions, 3 cloves fresh garlic, 1 red bullet chilli
Measure out the green beans into the same container, ready to stir fry.
180 g green beans
Measure out the peanuts ready to add.
30 g peanuts
Cut the ends off the lime and cut two slender wedges, ready to dress the dish. Lightly chop half a handful of coriander.
lime, fresh coriander

Cook baby cook!

Warm the oil in a separate pan on a low-medium heat, ready to cook the onion petals, garlic and red chilli. Tip the onion, garlic and chilli in the pan along with salt and cook carefully to brown and caramelise without burning the garlic.
15 ml rapeseed oil, 1 pinch salt
When the onion, garlic and chilli mix is cooked well and the onions are translucent, add the tofu and it's marinade, along with the soy sauce, lime juice, lemon juice and sugar, and mix well. The onion needs to be soft but have some bite. We're not aiming for onions like you'd have on a burger.
30 ml light soy sauce, 30 ml lemon juice, 30 ml lime juice, 30 g soft dark brown sugar
Add the nuts and mix around. Add some of the cornflour slurry, and thicken the sauce. Add a bit more if you need to adjust the thickness of the sauce.
6 g cornflour, 5 ml water
Add the fennel seeds and mix.
1 tsp fennel seeds

Plating

Turn onto rice, scatter the prepared coriander and dress with the lime wedge.
If you don't need the lime for anything else, you could grate some fresh lime zest over the dish as well!
rice

Notes

Multi-purpose: cook the tofu as per the taught method and use for other dishes or in sandwiches. If using in sandwiches, consider cutting slices of tofu.
This doesn't reheat in the microwave very well. It's better cold actually!
With remaining herbs, chop up and put into storage boxes and pop into the fridge. I find supermarket herbs prepped and stored this way last a fair few days.
If you happened to have some fresh fennel, you could whop some slender slices into this, along with the green beans. That would work nicely.

Nutrition

Calories: 417kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 19gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 1436mgPotassium: 440mgFiber: 6gSugar: 27gVitamin A: 627IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 250mgIron: 3mg

Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.