A plant based take on the beloved Chinese sweet and sour chow mein. This sweet and sour tofu stir fry rivals any takeaway. This dish has it all, baked tofu in a sweet and sticky sauce with crunchy vegetables, noodles and roasted cashews.
The ingredients
Going vegan doesn’t mean you have to give up your favourites. This is the ultimate stir fry when you’re craving that quintessential Chinese chow mein. This homemade sweet and sour sauce has the four golden elements to cooking – salt, fat, acid and heat. The red wine vinegar (I know it isn’t traditional, but trust me it works!) is paired with dark soy sauce and a hint of chilli. This is balanced by the toffee like sweetness from the maple syrup, and of course the tangy pineapple chunks. This recipe is full of bold flavours that will please both meat eaters and herbivores alike.
The method
Whenever cooking a stir fry use a high smoke point oil such as sunflower or rapeseed to prevent the vegetables and protein from burning. Turn the heat up high and cook the vegetables for just 3 minutes; you want the mangetout and babycorn to be crisp and crunchy, and not overcooked mush.
The sauce is made extra thick and syrupy through the addition of cornstarch and syrup. Maple syrup is a vegan cooking staple, it has a much more complex flavour than honey, with caramel and toffee notes that invariably satisfies my sweet tooth.
Leave a comment and let me know how you get on making this sweet and sour tofu stir fry. I’d love to see your creations over on instagram!
More Pan Asian food
Roasted cashew vegetable stir fry with rice noodles
Sweet and sour tofu stir fry
Ingredients
For the sweet & sour sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp cornstarch mixed in 4tbsp water
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder
For the stir fry
- 400 g firm tofu
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 red onion sliced
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp chopped ginger
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 100 g baby corn
- 100 g mangetout
- 435 g tinned pineapple in juice
- 300 g straight to wok medium noodles
To serve (optional)
- 1 spring onion
- Roasted cashews
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 200 C / 180C fan. Line a baking tray with foil.
- Drain the tofu, wrap in a tea towel and gently press out the excess water.
- In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the sauce, plus the strained juice from the tinned pineapples. Add the tofu to the sauce and coat in the marinade.
- Spoon out the tofu onto the baking tray, leaving most of the marinade in the bowl.
- Bake the tofu for 25 minutes, flip the tofu half way through cooking.
- Meanwhile, prepare the aromatics by finely chopping the ginger and garlic. Slice the red onion into thin strips and chop the peppers into bite sized pieces.
- Heat the oil in a wok over a moderate heat and sauté the onions, garlic and ginger for a couple of minutes.
- Turn the heat up high and add the vegetables and pineapple chunks. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
- Next add the sauce and cook on high for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the straight to wok noodles and baked tofu and stir through for a further minute.
- Serve and finish with sliced spring onion and roasted cashew nuts.