Crispy Chilli Tofu & Cashew Stir-Fry

Ingredients

• 280 g firm tofu, pressed, cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 50 g cashews
• 2 pak choi, quartered
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 x 250g pouch microwave rice

Method

1. Press the tofu hard between two plates with a weight on top for 10 minutes — water out means crisp in. Cube it, then toss in the cornflour with a generous pinch of salt until each face is dusty and evenly coated.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat until it shimmers. Lay the tofu in a single layer — don't crowd the pan, work in two batches if you need to, because piled-up tofu steams instead of crisps. Fry for 5–6 minutes, turning every minute or so, until deeply golden and shatter-crisp on all sides. Lift out onto kitchen paper.
3. Mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil and chilli flakes together in a small bowl. Taste it — sharp, sweet, salty, hot — and adjust now, not later.
4. Tip the cashews into the same hot wok and toast for 1 minute until they smell nutty and golden. Add the red pepper, pak choi stems and sugar snap peas, then stir-fry hard for 2 minutes — you want the peppers blistered at the edges and the snaps still squeaky.
5. Drop in the garlic and ginger and toss for 30 seconds, no more — just until fragrant. Burnt garlic turns the whole wok bitter, so keep everything moving and watch it.
6. Return the tofu to the wok and pour the sauce straight onto the hot metal so it hisses and reduces — swirl for 30–60 seconds until it turns glossy and clings to the tofu rather than pooling. Throw in the pak choi leaves at the very end so they wilt rather than collapse. Taste — most of the salt comes from the soy, but a final pinch of salt or splash of lime juice ties it together.
7. Ping the rice per packet instructions.
8. Pile the rice into bowls, spoon the chilli tofu and greens over, scatter with the spring onions and toasted sesame seeds, and tuck a lime wedge alongside each bowl for squeezing at the table.