Ingredients

The following ingredients have 2 Servings
  • 1 cup rice (I used Thai red rice)
  • 2 tbsp peanut oil (or other high smoke point oil)
  • 3 spring onions, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 1 hot red chilli, finely sliced
  • a large handful of green beans, cut diagonally
  • a wedge of cabbage, shredded finely
  • 1 red pepper, finely sliced
  • 3 baby courgettes, sliced
  • tamari or soy sauce
  • sambal oelek (Indonesian chilli paste), to taste
  • 1 lime
  • 200 g firm or extra firm tofu, pressed*
  • 3-4 tsp sambal oelek (chilli paste), adjust to taste
  • 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp of lime juice
  • 4 tsp neutral tasting oil
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated
  • sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

Instruction

  • Rinse rice well and put it on to boil. I used Thai red rice and even though it does say on the packet to cook it in 1:2 or 1:3 rice to water ratio, I only use 1:1.25 ratio, as I like my rice grains separate and not overcooked, and it works a treat. I put it in a pot with a see through lid. I let the water come to boil and then turn the heat right down (setting 2 out of 6). I check that all of the water has been absorbed by tilting the pot slightly and seeing if any water is seeping out. Once the water has been fully absorbed, I switch the heat off but KEEP THE LID ON. I set the rice aside and cook it in its own steam. It works a charm. This is how my gran taught me to cook white rice when I was little and it works great on red rice too.
  • Mix all the marinade ingredients together and adjust the spiciness to your taste. Cut the tofu into your favourite shapes and place in a bowl with the marinade, turning tofu over from time to time.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 175° C / 345° F and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
  • Place the tofu on the baking tray and bake for about 25-30 minutes, turning once half way through. Once baked, brush with the remaining marinade to infuse it with more flavour.
  • Heat up a wok or a large frying pan. Pour 1 tbsp of oil and heat it up until it is almost smoking. Add spring onions, garlic and chilli.
  • Stir-fry until spring onion softens. Transfer to a separate plate, leaving as much oil on the wok as you can.
  • Heat up another tablespoon of oil and stir fry your veggies in the following order (leaving a minute or two between each addition): beans, courgettes, cabbage and red pepper.
  • Once your veggies are almost cooked but still quite crunchy, return spring onions, garlic and chilli back to the pan and add cooked rice.
  • Stir-fry on low-medium heat until rice is warm, season with tamari (soy sauce), chilli paste and lime juice to taste.
  • Divide between two plates, top with baked tofu. Serve with lime wedges.