Nori-Wrapped Tofu in a Spicy Sauce
Crispy-fried tofu wrapped in sheets of nori cooked in a spicy szechuan-inspired sauce. The nori here gives that extra umami flavour and texture. This one’s one of those really saucy and satisfying dishes that’s perfect enjoy with some rice. I had more than 4 pieces of these in one go and my family loves them as well!
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 400 g extra firm tofu
- 2 nori sheets
- Neutral oil (for cooking)
- Pinch of salt (to taste)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 1/4 tsp ground szechuan pepper (crushed from 1/2 tsp whole szechuan peppercorns)
- 1 tsp doubanjiang or spicy broad bean paste (or sub with other chili sauce)
- 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp rice vinegar (or distileld white vinegar)
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp room temperature water
- Steamed rice or noodles
- Bok choy or other vegetables
Instructions
- 1
Press tofu for at least 10 minutes to drain excess liquid. Slice the tofu into rectangular pieces, around 1" thick. Sprinkle some salt over the tofu.
- 2
You can watch the video below for a complete step-by-step.
- 3
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Feel free to adjust according to your desired taste. Set aside.
- 4
Cut the nori sheets into 1” thick pieces. If they’re long, you can always just overlap them when wrapping around the tofu. Carefully wrap each piece of tofu with the nori. You may need to rub the ends with some water if your tofu is really dry for the nori to stick together.
- 5
Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. If you're using some veggies, you can simple stir-fry these in this pan before cooking the tofu.
- 6
For the tofu: Add some oil to cover the surface of the pan. Leave the oil to get hot over medium high heat. The tofu should immediately sizzle when placed in the oil.
- 7
Once hot, place the wrapped tofu. Pan fry on each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain any excess oil.
- 8
Remove the oil from the pan. Mix the cornstarch slurry together.
- 9
In the same pan over medium heat, add the sauce. Stir and leave to simmer over medium heat until the sauce boils.
- 10
While stirring the sauce, add in the cornstarch slurry. Leave the sauce to simmer over medium heat until the sauce thickens.
- 11
Add in the fried tofu pieces. Leave to cook for 2-3 more minutes until the sauce thickens more and the tofu absorbs some sauce. Season with some more salt or soy sauce, if needed.
- 12
Turn off the heat then serve hot over some rice or noodles. Enjoy!