Charred cauliflower & crispy tofu with sweet peanut sauce

March 10, 2024

   

One of my colleagues brought in a delicious-looking gado gado lunch a few weeks ago and I was reminded how excellent a plate of anything covered with peanut sauce can be. We went digging around in our books for inspiration and hit upon this version in Hetty McKinnon's Tenderheart. It's a lot less work than the Ottolenghi recipe we've made in the past, and the results are just as satisfying - the charred cauliflower is sweet and smokey, the crispy tofu triangles add a bit of texture, and the peanut sauce is so, so easy. 

You can mess around with this however you like - add some nuts or different crispy veggies, trade the eggs for some tempeh, really whatever you've got to hand. Let's face it, everything tastes delicious doused in sweet/spicy peanut butter.

Charred cauliflower & crispy tofu with sweet peanut sauce

(a recipe from Hetty McKinnon's Tenderheart)

olive oil

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

salt and pepper

1 cup chickpea flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

500g tofu, sliced into 5mm thick rectangles

2 Lebanese cucumbers, roughly chopped

4 jammy eggs

bean sprouts

crispy shallots

1 lime

sauce

1/2 cup of peanut butter

3/4 cup water

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes

2 tablespoons kecap manis

salt

Heat the oil in a large pan on high heat and fry the cauliflower florets in batches, for about 8 minutes each. Just turn them occasionally, you want them to char up a bit. Set them aside and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the chickpea flour out on a plate, combined with the garlic powder and a bit of salt and pepper. Dredge the tofu slices through the flour mix to coat and then fry in a hot pan with some more olive oil. A couple of minutes on each side should get the tofu nice and golden. Set the tofu aside and, once it has cooled, slice into triangles.

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until smooth. Add more water if it's too thick - it will get thicker as it cools down. 

Layer up your plates with cauliflower, tofu, cucumber, egg and sprouts and then drizzle with sauce, squeeze a quarter of the lime over everything and top with crispy shallots.