Vietnamese-style crispy tofu bowl

Ingredients

125g rice noodles
2 tbsp chilli sauce of your choice
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lime
1 banana shallot, sliced into rings
2 tbsp cornflour
½ tsp flaked sea salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
280g block extra-firm tofu, cut into 0.5cm slices
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 carrot, sliced into thin strips (use a julienne peeler, if you have one)
¼ cucumber, sliced into thin strips
Small handful fresh mint leaves
Small handful toasted peanuts

Ingredients

125g rice noodles
2 tbsp chilli sauce of your choice
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lime
1 banana shallot, sliced into rings
2 tbsp cornflour
½ tsp flaked sea salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
280g block extra-firm tofu, cut into 0.5cm slices
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 carrot, sliced into thin strips (use a julienne peeler, if you have one)
¼ cucumber, sliced into thin strips
Small handful fresh mint leaves
Small handful toasted peanuts

Method

Put the noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with freshly boiled water and leave for 2 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. In a small bowl, combine the chilli sauce and lime zest and juice, pour half over the noodles and mix to coat.
In a small bowl toss the shallot with 1 tsp cornflour. In a separate bowl mix the rest of the cornflour with the salt and pepper, then add the tofu and toss to coat.
Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a frying pan until hot and fry the shallot for 5-10 minutes until crisp. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper (or see tip).
Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and fry the tofu, in batches, for 2 minutes on each side until golden and crisp.
To serve, divide the noodles, shallot, fried tofu, carrot, cucumber, mint leaves and peanuts between 2 bowls and pour over the remaining dressing.

Method

Put the noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with freshly boiled water and leave for 2 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. In a small bowl, combine the chilli sauce and lime zest and juice, pour half over the noodles and mix to coat.
In a small bowl toss the shallot with 1 tsp cornflour. In a separate bowl mix the rest of the cornflour with the salt and pepper, then add the tofu and toss to coat.
Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a frying pan until hot and fry the shallot for 5-10 minutes until crisp. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper (or see tip).
Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and fry the tofu, in batches, for 2 minutes on each side until golden and crisp.
To serve, divide the noodles, shallot, fried tofu, carrot, cucumber, mint leaves and peanuts between 2 bowls and pour over the remaining dressing.

delicious. tips

If you don’t want to fry the shallots you can buy ready-cooked crispy shallots from Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.

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