SMOKY, SPICY SWEET AND SOUR TOFU STIR FRY
Sweet, sour, spicy nostalgia
A vegan version of my childhood favourite
Sweet and sour was always my favourite. Ever since my parents introduced my sister and me to Chinese food, at what I think was the age of about five or six, sweet and sour chicken balls was my go-to takeout choice for the many nights we spent ensconced at home watching movies and devouring these delicious treats. Those memories are full of happiness and anticipation - the excitement when my dad would come back with the takeaway (no delivery in the countryside!), the pleasing crinkling of the brown paper bags, the gooey joy of piling the sauce on top of the rice.
When I became vegetarian at age 23 I stopped being as enamoured of Chinese food in general, and sweet and sour in particular - the vegetables in a lot of Chinese restaurants in Ireland tend to be frozen, and without meat to carry them, that is almost impossible to overcome. Yet still, I crave sweet and sour in a way that I only crave meals from my childhood.
It took me a long time, but eventually, I took my need for sweet and sour into my own hands. If you find a tofu that crisps up nicely then this is actually a really easy and delicious meal to make. I looked around online to find out what kind of ingredients generally go into making a sweet and sour sauce, then I made some adjustments to end up with a slightly fancier version than what you get at most takeaways, and I think the results are pretty damn good - satisfying both the kid I was, and the marginally more sophisticated man he has become. Enjoy!
PSA: This is not health food. Just as I enjoyed this as a treat when I was a kid, it's a rare pleasure as an adult too. There's a fair bit of sugar in it, just like there is in a cake. Just like with a cake, I wouldn't go eating this on an overly regular basis.
Ingredients
Sauce
3 tbsp cold water
1 tin of pineapple (approximately 400g)
6 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp golden syrup
6 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsps rice vinegar
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp powdered star anise (or one solid star anise - not to be eaten!)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Sitr-fry
Block of firm tofu
1 head of broccoli
4 carrots, sliced into batons
200g mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 peppers, ideally one red and one yellow (the different colours add a to the presentation!)
1 bunch of scallions
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
Method
Put your rice on to boil.
Prepare your tofu. You'll need to drain it first, then wrap it in some paper towel or a clean dish towel to soak up excess moisture. Next put a heavy book on top of the block of tofu to press even more moisture out. Leave this for ten or fifteen minutes (you can use this time to chop the vegetables).
Once the tofu is feeling pretty firm and dry, chop it into rough cubes and stir-fry it in a cast iron pan until it's browned on all ides (or at least most sides). Finding a good brand of tofu for this is really the key - ideally the packaging will say Firm on it, though if you buy from an Asian market the tofu might not be this clear. In Ireland, Cauldron Organic Tofu is really, really firm and can be drained really quickly and easily.
Prepare the sauce. Start by mixing together the ketchup, golden syrup, vinegar, pineapple juice and spices. Don't add the whole pieces of pineapple yet - instead chop this roughly and fry it lightly in a cast iron pan before adding it to the sauce. Set the sauce aside for now.
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a wok on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, start to fry the mushrooms. I find that some ingredients in a stir-fry are to their best advantage if they're crisped up individually before being combined. If you don't do this, especially with a vegetable stir-fry, they can sometimes end up a bit soggy, when really you want that crispy bite to add a lovely texture. Mushrooms, in particular, produce a massive amount of water when cooked, and take a little while to start to crisp, so you're going to need to be patient and stir thoroughly for five or six minutes until they start to brown, then set aside.
Add the broccoli and stir thoroughly until it looks completely cooked. Add in the garlic, ginger, peppers, carrots, mushrooms and tofu. Stir-fry for two or three minutes.
Pour all of the sauce over the stir-fry and keep mixing until it's piping hot and thickly covering each vegetable. Serve on a bed of rice and rejoice:-)