The sweet and sour sauce is where the magic happens – a symphony of sweetness from the soft brown sugar, the tang of white wine vinegar, and a savoury kick from soy sauce, all coming together to create a mouthwatering glaze to coat the crispy tofu and a medley of vibrant vegetables. To get the most out of your tofu, it is worth taking the time to dry it completely before coating in cornflour and frying. You’ll get the satisfying crunch that works wonders with the rich sweet and sour sauce.
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Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
55 mins
Cal/Serv:
542
Ingredients
Sunflower oil, to fry
396g
block firm tofu, drained, we used Cauldron
6Tbsp.
cornflour
2
garlic cloves, crushed
1/2
red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, plus extra slices to serve
2
mixed colour peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
4Tbsp.
white wine vinegar
3Tbsp.
tomato ketchup
2Tbsp.
soy sauce
1Tbsp.
light brown soft sugar
425g
tin pineapple chunks, in juice
3
spring onions, finely sliced
1Tbsp.
sesame seeds
Sticky rice to serve, optional, see GH Tip
Directions
Step 1Pour oil into a large heavy-based, high-sided pan until it comes 5-7.5cm up sides of the pan. Heat to 180˚C or until a cube of bread sizzles to golden in 40sec. Meanwhile pat tofu dry with kitchen paper. Cut into 2.5cm cubes and dry again with fresh kitchen paper.
Step 2Mix the cornflour and some seasoning in a medium bowl and toss the tofu in it until completely coated. Working in batches, fry tofu in the hot oil for 3-4min until lightly golden and crisp. Lift out using a slotted spoon on to kitchen paper to drain well. Repeat with remaining tofu (monitoring the oil temperature).
Step 3Heat 1tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the garlic, chilli and peppers for 1min. Add remaining ingredients (apart from the spring onions and sesame seeds), bring to the boil and simmer for 5-8min, until slightly thickened.
Step 4Divide the tofu between 4 bowls, spoon over the sauce and sprinkle with spring onions and sesame seeds. Serve with sticky rice, if you like.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
