Food and Cooking

Deep-fried and sauced. NOTE: I prepare it semi-often, and my folks really enjoy it, but I can't directly attest if it tastes good*.

Start with the sauce. Add to a pot a bit of veg oil, sugar (yup), grated ginger, minced garlic, lemon zest. Eyeballed amounts. Let the ingredients gently fry on low fire, then add half a cup of water. Then add soy sauce and vinegar to taste; you know you got it right when the sauce is gently sour, salty, and sweet at the same time. Reserve.

Now grab some red bell peppers, onions, and optionally mushrooms. Cut them into large cubes. Get some veg oil on a pan, let it heat until shimmering, and sauté them. Don't cook them until mushy, you want some bite.

Finally, the tofu. Extra firm; this is important, if you try this with silky tofu it will ruin your day. Cube it into 2cm cubes, sprinkle salt and pepper, then cover the cubes with cornstarch. Deep-fry them at 200°C, until crispy and golden.

Now mix the vegs and tofu into the sauce and serve immediately, alongside some rice. Note: only mix all three when serving, otherwise it gets soggy and sad.

*My body handles notoriously bad tofu, peanuts, beans and lentils. I do prepare the same recipe with chicken for myself, and it tastes great; and as I said my folks like the tofu version.