Chinese 5-Spice Glazed Tofu
“My name is Fiveeee Spiceeeee… I am FIVE times as GOOD as ALL OF YOUUU!” - Michael McIntyre
Song suggestions:
Girl (feat. KAYTRANADA) - The Internet
Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn
Top tip: if you follow the 12-8 method to make rice (12 minute boil, 8 minute steam) method, start the rice as you start the tofu. By the time your tofu is done, your rice will be too and you can eat everything perfectly hot!
Ingredients:
Sauce:
180ml (3/4 cup) water
1 tsp vinegar (I use apple cider, but anything like rice wine or regular works too)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice
2 tsp corn starch (+ 2 tbsp water)
1 garlic clove, minced
Meal:
280g block of extra firm tofu
Rice to serve
Spring onions and sesame seeds to garnish
Recipe:
Tear the tofu apart. Start by ripping it in half, then half again, and keep going until you get bite-sized tofu nuggets. Set aside.
Make the sauce: combine all ingredients together in a jar and mix well with a fork until it’s all well dissolved.
Make the cornstarch slurry: mix the cornstarch and water in a small pot until dissolved.
In a pan, heat a small amount of oil. Add the tofu and on a medium heat cook until the outside is golden brown.
Turn the heat all the way down and add the soy sauce mixture. Mix until everything is well combined and then turn the heat back up to medium.
Add your cornstarch slurry. The sauce will thicken quickly so don’t take your eyes off it now! Using a spoon, stir everything constantly and make sure the tofu is well coated in the sauce.
Serve over a bed of rice, with chopped spring onions and sesame seeds on it.
A Bite Out of Life
This might look like any old cake… but it’s a little bit more than that to me.
When I was younger, I lived in Switzerland and I have few memories of it but one of the ones I do have is of this cake in this exact mould. When we were younger, my mum always made us this specific birthday cake recipe: a yoghurt cake where all the measurements are figured out around the yoghurt cup. So you use the yoghurt in the cake, and use the lil plastic cup to measure out the rest of the ingredients, which I’ve always thought was super cool! It’s all relative…
The mould I’m pouring it into has also stood the test of time… Having made it through the move across countries and through various houses now, this yellow teddy bear silicone cake mould is an image of my childhood. Last year, I had to spent my birthday in quarantine, so to bring some joy to my day I dug this mould out from the depths of my garage, dusted off my Mum’s old cookbook and got to baking. It was the first time I remember having this cake in this mould since I was a really small child!
We all shared it in the evening together and it tasted just that much better because of the memories. The cake is delicious, but things really do taste better to me when they’re shared. A birthday to remember (and not just because I was in quarantine)!
Also, how satisfying are those layers of silky smooth cake batter…?!
