Guest Recipe: Uyen Luu's Sweet And Sour Crispy Tofu With Green Beans

Tofu mimics chicken nuggets in a naughty fakeaway-style, letting you enjoy the benefits of plant-based ingredients.

This week, I'm excited to feature this Sweet and Sour Crispy Tofu with Green Beans from Uyen Luu's new book, Quick and Easy Vietnamese. This book taps into the Vietnamese mindset of maximising flavour with minimal waste and time. These tofu and green beans are perfect for any meal, bringing delicious Vietnamese flavours to your table.

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For more of Uyen’s recipes be sure to follow her on Substack and Instagram.

Sweet And Sour Crispy Tofu With Green Beans

{df,nf*,gf}

THE INGREDIENTS

• 5 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) medium-firm tofu, cut into 3 cm (11/4 inch) squares and patted dry with paper towels

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 tablespoons rapeseed (canola) oil

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 15 g (1/2 oz) ginger, finely chopped

• 1 small white onion, sliced into 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide strips

• 1/2 red (bell) pepper, sliced into 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide strips

• 150–200 g (51/2–7 oz) green beans, trimmed

• 2 spring onions (scallions), sliced into 5 cm (2 inch) lengths

For the sauce

• 1/2 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with

• 2 tablespoons water

• 2 tablespoons ketchup

• 2 tablespoons chilli sauce (optional)

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons premium fish sauce

• 1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

• 2 tablespoons crispy chilli oil

Optional garnishes

• coriander (cilantro) or Thai basil leaves

• chopped cashews or peanuts*

• sliced red or bird's eye chillies

THE METHOD

First, make the sauce by mixing together all the ingredients in a bowl, then set aside.

Combine the cornflour, salt and garlic powder in a bowl, then add the tofu and gently toss to coat. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat and fry the tofu chunks for about 4 minutes on each side until the bottoms turn golden. Drain on paper towels, then repeat with the remaining tofu. Discard the vegetable oil and add the rapeseed oil to the same pan.

Fry the garlic and ginger over a medium-high heat for 2 minutes until fragrant and starting to colour, then add the onion, red pepper, green beans and spring onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3–4 minutes until charred in places.

Stir the sauce, then pour into the pan and stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the fried tofu and stir for about 30 seconds to coat everything with the sauce.

Serve immediately with your desired garnishes.

Abbreviations:

v- Vegetarian, pb - Plant based, gf - Gluten Free, nf - Nut free, df - Dairy free.