Easy Eats: Sticky Peanut Tofu Bowls
There's a lot to love about this dish, which combines sticky glazed tofu and kūmara with fluffy jasmine rice and a tangy, fresh salsa. Photo: Sam Parish
Serves 4 / Prep time: 10 minutes / Cooking time: 20 minutes
Here’s a multi-purpose meal that’s a dream weeknight dinner for vegetarians, a great bring-a-plate option or the ideal side dish for a feast.
Serves 4 / Prep time: 10 minutes / Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 heaped Tbsp crunchy peanut butter
- ¼ cup just-boiled water
- 1 Tbsp each: fish sauce, black vinegar, maple syrup, dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 600g firm tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
- 1 orange kūmara, cut into 1cm cubes
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- Offcuts of ginger (optional)
- 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- Juice of 1 lime
- Chopped peanuts, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
To make the sauce, combine peanut butter and just-boiled water in a bowl (or if you're using up the dregs of a jar, add directly to the jar) and give it a good stir to loosen the peanut butter. Then add fish sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, and dark soy, and mix to combine.
Drizzle the tray with half the oil and add tofu and kūmara. Drizzle over the peanut butter mixture and remaining oil, then gently mix to coat. Roast for 20 minutes, or until golden and the kūmara is softened and cooked through.
Meanwhile, for the rice, place the rice, ginger (if using), and 2 ½ cups of cold water in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. Discard the ginger and fluff the rice with a fork.
Toss the tomatoes, spring onions, garlic, and lime juice in a bowl.
To serve, spoon the rice into bowls, top with the tofu kūmara mixture, add the tomato salsa, and scatter with peanuts.
Photo: Sam Parish
Sam Parish is a Christchurch-based chef, writer and food stylist. She's all about cooking smarter, not harder. She’ll be sharing delicious, fast, family-friendly food ideas every Wednesday (after road-testing them on her own whānau, of course). Sam’s first book, Cook Me is out now.
