Cooking for myself is a rare delight, because normally there are other people to consider. Alone, I can indulge in my strangest culinary whims (oat soup, celery wontons, salt-and-vinegar noodles), which probably won’t see the light of day here. The more crowd-pleasing dishes that I cook for myself tend to involve the vegan cook’s greatest ally, tofu. It can be quickly crisped for near-instant gratification, and today I’m submerging it in Indonesian flavours such as lemongrass and kecap manis (sweet soy), and surrounding it in greens. One pan, one person, no compromises.
Tofu with tomatoes, sweet soy and greens
Kecap manis is to Indonesia what HP Sauce is to the UK, and it’s served with just about everything savoury. It’s essentially soy sauce thickened and sweetened with palm sugar, and is often flavoured with spices such as star anise, garlic, ginger, galangal and chilli. These days it’s widely available in the UK in supermarkets and online, as well as in south-east Asian food stores.
Prep 15 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 1
280g extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 shallots (200g), peeled and very finely chopped
4 fat garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 stick lemongrass, outer leaves discarded, the rest very finely chopped
2 Thai red chillies, very finely chopped
4 vine tomatoes (250g), chopped
¾ tsp salt, plus 1 pinch extra
2 tsp kecap manis
250g pak choi, tailed and shredded
First fry the tofu. Put a couple of pieces of kitchen roll on a plate and pour the oil into a nonstick frying pan for which you have a lid on a medium to high heat. When hot, add the tofu and cook until crisp and golden brown (about five minutes), then flip over on to the other side and cook for a further five minutes. Take off the heat, lift out the tofu using a slotted spoon, leaving the oil behind, and place on the papered plate to drain.
Reheat the pan and oil on a medium heat and, once hot, add the shallots and fry, stirring often, for eight minutes, until browning. Add the garlic, lemongrass and chillies, cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, until the raw smell of the garlic has gone and the shallots are crisp, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook for another six to eight minutes, until you have a delicious, soft paste, then turn the heat right down, stir in the salt and kecap manis, and return the tofu to the pan. Stir again, layer the shredded pak choi on top, turn up the heat, pop on the lid and cook for five minutes.
Take off the heat, add a pinch of salt to taste, if required, then transfer to a plate and serve with hot rice.
