This recipe will make you love Sweet and Sour Tofu!

Sweet and Sour Tofu

This is the best Sweet and Sour Tofu I ever made! So, I love tofu. I was vegetarian for a long time from a teenager to an adult and I ate a lot of tofu. If you feel you would not like tofu, try it in a Chinese restaurant either sweet and sour tofu, tofu in black bean sauce or pepper tofu. They are my favourites.

               I cannot remember the first time I had tofu, but my dad would put it in tomato choka when I was growing up. Long time I feel we would get the silken tofu more in the grocery. Silken tofu is smoother and softer and much harder to work with. I would say silken tofu has a bit of an attitude because if you try to deep fry it, it sputters and spits oil at you! It has a lot of water; hot oil and water are not friends.

               I would literally put up a pot cover like a shield like I was going into battle against this silken tofu! Its pretty dangerous and I would recommend you stay away from it when frying. Its worth it though because fried silken tofu is delicious especially in a sauce. I recently had pepper tofu yesterday from Chinese Dragon in Penal (Trinidad and Tobago) and it was delicious.

Pepper Tofu from Chinese Dragon

               I usually cook with firm tofu now because it doesn’t have that much of an “attitude” as silken tofu and its cheaper in the grocery. Silken tofu now does not only have an attitude, but it also has “big price” too!

               This recipe was made with firm tofu, but you can substitute silken tofu as well. I find most Chinese restaurants sweet and sour tofu are too sweet and online recipes too sour. This sauce has the perfect balance for my taste, but you can adjust the sugar and vinegar to your liking. You can also adjust the quantity of sauce if you prefer it saucier.

               I had fried my tofu a few days before and stored it in the freezer for convenience. I do hope you enjoy this recipe. Chicken or another type of protein can be substituted if that is your preference. You can use water instead of the pineapple juice and omit  the pineapple but that is what takes this sauce to the next level.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

I will be posting a Tiktok and Youtube video for this recipe so look out for these videos on my @chillibibi on Tiktok and @chillibibi on Youtube.

 

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Tofu

Serves                 5
Cuisine               Chinese
Time                   1 ½ hours
Level                   Medium Difficulty

 

Ingredients:
3 tb           coconut oil
2tb            minced garlic
1 tb           minced ginger
1 ½           onions chopped in chunks
1               green or red sweet pepper chopped in chunks
½ c           pineapple chopped 1 in pieces
1/3 c         chive chopped
½ tsp        black pepper
 
For tofu:
1               454g pack firm tofu (Pacific or other brand)
1 tsp         soy sauce
1 tsp         sesame oil
½ tsp        garlic powder
½ tsp        chilli powder
                 oil for frying
 
Sauce:
½ c            pineapple juice
½ c            ketchup
5tb            sugar
2 ½ tb      white vinegar
¾ tsp       sesame oil
½ tb          soy sauce
1-2 tb       sweet chilli sauce or hot sauce to taste (optional)
Pinch       black pepper
Salt           to taste
1-2tb        water to thin out sauce
 
Procedure:
1)                      Cut the tofu in cubes and coat in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and chilli powder.
2)                      Heat oil till hot and fry in batches till golden.
3)                      Mix all sauce ingredients together.
4)                      In a wok heat the oil and add the ginger first and cook till fragrant. Then add the garlic and lower the heat and cook for a 1 minute. Do not leave unattended or it may burn.
5)                      Add the onion and green pepper, turn the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes.
6)                      Add pineapple and cook for 1 minutes then add the sauce and cook for 1 minute.
7)                      Add the fried tofu and cook the sauce till it reaches your desired consistency.
8)                      Take off heat and add black pepper, chive and sesame seeds.
9)                      Eat with fried rice or noodles! Enjoy!

© Aruna R. Khudan