If you are not used to cooking with tofu, it can seem an intimidating ingredient, but it's not as complicated as you might think. The key thing to remember is to try and remove as much moisture as possible before you cook it. Sometimes tofu that you buy will need to be pressed. In the UK, the Cauldron brand that comes floating in water needs to be pressed, but you can also buy extra firm tofu that doesn't need pressing, such as the TooFoo brand.
Tearing the tofu rather than cutting it into squares makes for a really nice texture. I am frying it in this recipe, but you can alternatively oven cook or air fry the tofu and then finish in the pan with the sauce.
This recipe uses mirin, which is a sweet japanese cooking wine. If you can't find mirin then you can substitute it for rice vinegar but you will need to add a teaspoon of sugar for sweetness.
- 1 pack of firm tofu, pressed if necessary (see above)
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking
- 1 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin (see substitute above)
- 1 tbsp water
- Optional extras for this dish: chopped ginger, lemongrass, coriander leaves, spring onion (green parts only for low fodmap)
- Tear the tofu into smallish pieces and mix with the cornflour until coated.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing the soy sauce, mirin and water in a dish or cup.
- Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Add the tofu pieces to the oil and leave them to cook on one side. You want them to get crispy.
- After a few minutes turn them, I use tongs for this.
- When the tofu is browned and crispy all over, remove the pan from the heat, add the tofu back in to the pan along with the sauce. Toss the tofu pieces until well coated and the sauce has started to thicken.
- Add the sauce, and toss the tofu pieces until well coated and the sauce has started to thicken.
- Optional extras: fry chopped ginger, lemongrass, spring onion with the tofu for a few minutes before adding the sauce. If using herbs, add at the same time as the sauce.