Have you ever tried twice-cooked pork? It’s a Chinese dish consisting of thin slices of belly pork slathered in a spicy bean paste and fried. Unfortunately it’s not very vegan. I decided this needed to be changed, and so I made this equally delicious but quicker, easier AND much healthier Twice-Cooked Tofu!
I have made it my mission to make tofu more exciting, and nothing gives tofu more of a chance to shine than when it’s marinated in this 5-ingredient sauce that’s bursting with flavour before being twice-cooked to perfection. By the way, in order to successfully make this Twice-Cooked Tofu, you will need to use a firm tofu, not the soft silken kind.
This Twice-Cooked Tofu is so easy to make, which makes it ideal for a quick weeknight dinner. All you need to do is toss together a few ingredients to make a flavour-packed sauce with which to coat the tofu.
Although twice-cooked pork usually involves marinating the pork belly in a spicy yellow bean paste, I didn’t have any of this at home when I made this dish, so I just used miso (which is also fermented soybean paste) instead.
It actually tasted very similar to the original and made it healthier too – win win! You can buy miso in most supermarkets, local health stores and Asian supermarkets.
Then all you have to do is fry the tofu in a small amount of oil, set it aside, fry some garlic and leeks in the same pan, then add the tofu again. So easy, so simple! Leftovers also reheat well.
Looking for more exciting tofu recipes? You might like my:
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Helpful tools to make this Twice-Cooked Tofu:
glass mixing bowl
Twice-Cooked Tofu (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
- 400 g (14oz) firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons oil (vegetable oil, rapeseed oil or coconut oil)
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
- 2 leeks, finely sliced
For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon miso (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 2 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- Pinch cayenne chilli pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 2 tablespoons sherry or Chinese wine (ensure vegan-friendly/gluten-free if necessary)
Instructions
- Pat tofu dry with a paper towel, before cutting into very thin rectangular-shaped slices
- In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients for the marinade
- Place the tofu in this bowl, making sure that every piece is covered in equal amounts of sauce. You can either cook it immediately at this stage, or cover it and leave in the fridge to marinate for up to 12 hours
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add tofu once hot
- Fry the tofu for about 5 minutes on each side, or until crispy and golden brown on both sides
- Once the tofu is done, transfer it to a bowl or plate for the time being
- Now cook the garlic and leeks in this same frying pan until soft and slightly caramelised (add a little more oil if necessary)
- Once these are done, you can either put the tofu back in the frying pan with them just to warm it up again, or just mix everything together in the bowl/plate and you’re ready to eat
- Best served with a steaming hot bowl of brown/white rice!
- Leftovers keep well covered in the fridge for up to a couple of days. Just reheat in a frying pan
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Amelia
Love this – really easy to make and so flavourful. My kids loved it too!
Rhian Williams
Thank you!