Sweet and Sour tofu (Chinese New Year recipe)

I’ve been on a craze of tofu these days. They are so easy to cook and very available here. On top, tofu is full of proteins and is the perfect choice if you don’t want to eat meat everyday (like me!). There are so many simple tofu recipes out there and this Sweet and Sour Tofu recipe happens to be one of them. There are sweet and sour chicken, sweet and sour pork and so on, so I thought how about making a vegetarian sweet and sour tofu recipe! This easy tofu recipe can also be served as a Chinese New Year recipe. Sweet and sour sauces are delicious, no doubt about that. But, the secret ingredients to the perfect sweet and sour sauce is using rice vinegar and plum sauce. Yes, you don’t just use your normal everyday vinegar, but you use RICE VINEGAR. It gives the sauce a very different taste. I bought the red rice vinegar (on mom’s advice) and the result was so exquisite. You could try to use the normal Chinese colourless vinegar, but I don’t guarantee the same results. As for plum sauce, it is not obligatory to use, but as I said, if you want the perfect sweet and sour sauce, you should definitely go for the plum sauce pot in the supermarket! Now, don’t forget to buy the firm tofu (老豆腐-lao dou fu), and not the silken one(嫩豆腐-nen dou fu)!

Take a look at the other Chinese recipes and Chinese New Year Recipes.

Sweet and sour tofu recipe (Chinese New Year recipe)

Ingredients:
2 tomatoes cut in quarter
1 cup of broccoli florets, blanched
1 carrot, cut into thin diagonal slices
1 green pepper, cut in medium cubes
1 green chilli, slit
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 box of firm tofu (about 400g), cut into triangles
cornstarch
2 tbsp cornflour mixed in 1/2 glass water

Sweet and sour sauce:
1 tbsp oyster sauce(optional)
1 tbsp plum sauce (optional)
3 tbsp red rice vinegar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato puree(or tomato ketchup)
1/2 tbsp salt

Steps:
1. Wash the tofu and cut them into triangles(you could also cut into cubes): Cut the tofu into thick rectangle slices. Cut vertically in the middle-top, then horizontally through the centre, and finally diagonally from the corners. Check the picture below for a clearer idea.

2. Heat oil in a deep-frying pan. Take the triangle tofu pieces and coat them with little cornstarch. When oil is hot enough, deep-fry the tofu pieces and drain on kitchen paper. Keep.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Stir-fry the chopped garlic, add the tomatoes, green peppers and carrot. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the sweet and sour sauce, green chilli, let cook for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add the tofu pieces and blanched broccoli florets. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the cornflour mixture and mix to thicken the sauce.
7. Serve with hot rice!
Tip:
1. You can buy tofu, deep-fry them and keep in boxes in the fridge for later use.
2. First blanching the broccoli prevents it from darkening in the sauce and keeps its bright green color. Many recipes just add the broccoli to cook in the sauce, but on mom’s advice, I blanched them first.

© 2011, Cindy @ MijoRecipes. All rights reserved.