I finally tried a slightly different way of cooking tofu and I’m such a big fan! It’s like eating chicken schnitzel  – really! I’m clearly excited about this and you should be too. You’ll probably see this rendition popping up again but for now it’s finding a place in a noodle salad bowl and you’re going to love it.

Other than the schnitzel like tofu the other thing to be pumped about in this recipe is the peanut sauce. I’ve also been eating this tofu with an avocado crema thing and I’ll figure out something about that to post eventually but this peanut sauce is the business. It’s creamy and crunchy and a good balance of sweet, salty etc.

Everything else in the bowl is left pretty simple so the peanut sauce and tofu can shine. I love the crunch of the tofu with the just cooked vegetables and slippery noodles.

There’s a couple of things to create in this recipe, the sauce, tofu, noodles and vegetables but it can all be done it takes to cook the tofu. I always cook it in the oven for 15 minutes first as I find it helps the coating stick to the tofu and you don’t need as much oil to cook it in.

You can either cook the tofu in rectangles or in strips it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference it just depends how you’d prefer to serve it. I went for strips for the photos because it looked prettier and sometimes I make decisions purely based on the visual element. This might make me more shallow than I want to be… Let’s move on!

Serves 4

Ingredients

400g Firm Tofu
4 TBS sesame seeds                                                                                                                                         2/3 cup bread crumbs                                                                                                                                       1 egg white   (Vegan substitution: Aquafaba, the water from canned chickpeas)
1 Tbs oil

200g vermicelli noodles
4 carrots
2 cups mushrooms, finely sliced
1 head of broccoli
2/3 cup spring onions
1/2 cup coriander leaves

Peanut sauce
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 Tbs water
2 tsp soy sauce `                                                                                                                                                 1 tsp maple syrup
1 Tbs chilli flakes
2 Tbs lime juice
1 cloves garlic
2 tsps freshly grated ginger

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a tray with baking paper.

Slice tofu into .5cm thick slices, you can then cut into 3 cm wide strips as per the picture or leave as larger rectangles.

Whisk egg white and 2 Tbs cold water together.

Combine the bread crumbs and sesame seeds in a shallow dish. Season with a pinch of salt.

Take each piece of tofu, dip in the egg white then coat in the bread crumb and sesame mix.

Place on the prepared baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, soak the vermicelli according to packet instructions.

Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl or jar and stir until smooth and well combined. Add more water if it’s too thick to drizzle.

Use a mandolin or vegetable peel to create ribbons of carrot. You could also grate or spiralise it.

Heat a tsp of oil in a large heavy based fry pan and then stir fry the broccoli and mushrooms for 2 minutes. Remove and keep warm.

Take the tofu from the oven. Heat 1 Tbs of oil in a large heavy based fry pan. Add the tofu slices, cook for a few minutes each side until crisp and golden.

Serve with noodles vegetables and tofu piled into a bowl, drizzle in peanut sauce and sprinkle with spring onions and coriander.

HH. x