Better-Than-Takeout Salt & Chilli Tofu

I think we can all agree that getting takeout is great, however it is not cost or health effective for most people to indulge in it too often. I am one of these people. For this reason, I think it's super important to learn how to make your favourite takeout dishes at home. For example, I know that I can make a mean satay sauce, so sometimes when I feel like I want a takeout I whip up a scrummy satay dish and save myself a fair bit of cash, and maybe a health complication or two. And now, after a request from a lovely follower, I know I can gobble up a delightful salt & chilli tofu dish without bruising my bank account (or leaving the house!).

I absolutely love salt & chilli dishes - salt & chilli chicken, salt & chilli chips, whatever it is give it to me now! What I hadn't ever tried before was tofu (apart from a very small amount on one occasion), so I was eager to try and cook and eat it for the first time. My favourite thing is to experience new foods and flavours, so I was excited to give this my best shot and see whether I'd been missing out by not eating tofu (spoiler alert - I had).

I thoroughly enjoyed the taste of this dish and will certainly be making this next time I've got a craving for takeout! It's a bit of a longer recipe - all in all it took about 45 minutes to prep and cook - but it's definitely worth it. It's also totally vegan - yay! Check out the step-by-step clip below, and keep reading for the full ingredient list and method.

Ingredients:

• Two green chillies

• One small piece of fresh root ginger (about 2cm)

• Two tablespoons of soy sauce

• Two spring onions

• One red bell pepper

• Half a head of broccoli

• 130 grams of tofu - see below for how to prep & avoid making the same mistake I did!

• 20 grams of cornflour

• One teaspoon of Chinese five spice

• One teaspoon of onion granules

• One teaspoon of garlic paste

• Two tablespoons of olive/sunflower/vegetable oil

• And of course our beloved chums, salt & pepper

Method:

1. Finely chop one of the green chillies (don't forget to take the seeds out if you don't like spiciness!) and scrape into a small container like a bowl or shallow jar

2. Then peel your ginger, dice into small pieces and chuck into the container with the chilli

3. Measure your soy sauce into the container, mix everything around well and leave to the side for later

4. Next, finely chop the spring onions and the other green chilli

5. Then dice your bell pepper into small chunks, pop to the side and chop the half head of broccoli into small florets

6. Grab your tofu, dry it off by patting with kitchen roll and then slice it into small triangles and leave to the side

7. Measure out your cornflour, Chinese five spice, onion granules, garlic paste and a pinch of salt & pepper into a bowl and give it a good ol' mix around

8. Then carefully dip each bit of tofu into the cornflour mix , making sure each side is coated nice 'n' thick

9. Add the oil to a medium-sized frying pan and turn up to a high heat - once the pan is really hot carefully place each bit of tofu

10. Fry over a medium-high heat, checking every so often and then flipping each piece over once it's golden and firm

11. Once all the tofu is golden-brown, take the pan off the heat and pop every piece onto a piece of kitchen roll, patting any excess oil off

12. Leave this to cool, and toss the broccoli and red bell pepper in the leftover cornflour mixture before throwing it in the pan over a medium-high heat and leaving this to cook for five minutes

13. Once this time is up, add half the green chilli & half the spring onion, mix well then add the tofu (you may need to transfer to a bigger pan, like me!)

14. Heat for about another minute, then serve up into bowls, drizzle your soy mix from earlier and tuck in!

As I mentioned above, I'd never experienced tofu before this, so what I didn't know was that you have to spend a little time preparing it before you start cooking (I know, Google exists, why didn't I just look it up...you live and learn). Due to this small oversight, the tofu I used was very slippery and very VERY easily damaged. I managed to salvage most of it and cook it well, but there was definitely a lot that just fell apart as soon as I touched it. After this mishap, I did a little Google (too little to late) and found that you can freeze dry tofu, you can simmer it in a pan of hot water, or you can leave it in kitchen roll for a few hours to get rid of all the excess liquid so it's easier to handle and absorbs flavour better. So, just bear in mind that if you try this recipe, don't be silly like me and think you know best - research the best way to prep your tofu BEFORE you start cooking!

One thing I loved about this recipe was the crunch of the broccoli and bell pepper and the way it contrasted to the smoothness of the tofu. It's such a versatile dish that you could add whatever veg you like and it would still be super yum. For example you could stir fry mushrooms, beansprouts or carrots instead of or as well as the broccoli and pepper! I know I say this all the time, but I think this recipe is one of my new favourites. I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed the tofu considering I'd not tried it before, but now I know, I'm excited to try out different tofu recipes in the future.

What do you think of this recipe? Will you be trying it out? Have you got any other great tofu recipes you think I should try? Let me know in the comments!