Homemade Sweet and Sour Tofu

Sweet and sour sauce is commonly used in Chinese cuisine.  It is a sauce which mainly combines vinegar and sugar.  There are so many yummy dishes made with this sauce, like sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour fish and sweet and sour spare-ribs. 

My lovely Aunt Eva used to cook sweet and sour pork all the time when I was a child.  She loved cooking and she was a great cook.  When I was small, my brothers and I loved to visit her because we loved all of her good food and always had lots of fun with our cousins. She was kind, thoughtful, hardworking, patient and generous.  We lost a wonderful woman, mom, sister and aunt last month.  She will forever be in our thoughts.   I love you, Aunt Eva! You are loved and missed!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serve: 2

Ingredients:

-         200g medium firm tofu (cut in cubes)

-         30g red pepper (cut in cubes)

-         35g green pepper (cut in cubes)

-         35g orange pepper (cut in cubes)

-         70g pineapple pieces

-       1½ tsp olive oil

-         2 garlic cloves (approximately 6 g, minced)

-         ½ shallot (finely chopped)

-         ½ spring onion (chopped)

-         a pinch of salt

-         a pinch of plain flour

Sweet and Sour Sauce:          

-         1 tbsp water

-         2 tbsp ketchup

-         1½ tbsp vinegar

-         2 tbsp brown sugar

-         3 tbsp pineapple syrup

-         ¼ tsp Zhenjiang vinegar

-         ¼ tsp soy sauce         

-         ⅛ tsp table salt

Thickening sauce:

-         ¼ tsp corn flour

-         ½ tsp cold water

Method:

1.	Use a piece of kitchen towel to dry the surface of tofu.  Add a pinch of salt onto a plate and put the tofu cubes on it.  Then add another pinch of salt on the tofu.  Sprinkle the tops with a small amount of plain flour.
2.	In a small mixing bowl, mix all ingredients of the sweet and sour sauce well.  Set aside.
3.	Heat a non-stick pan over low heat and add ½ tsp olive oil.  Then pan-fry all sides of the tofu to a bit golden yellow, remove and set aside.
4.	Heat the wok over medium heat and add ½ tsp olive oil.  Then add half of the minced garlic into the wok and cook for 10 seconds.  Add the mixed pepper and a pinch of salt; and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes until just tender.  Remove the pepper and set aside.
5.	In the meantime, heat the wok over low-medium heat, add ½ tsp olive oil and minced garlic.  Pour the mixed sweet and sour sauce in the wok and stir often until it boils.  Toss in the tofu and mixed pepper and stir-fry gently to make sure they are thoroughly coated with the sauce.
6.	Mix the corn flour with the cold water well.  Pour into the wok and stir-fry until the sauce is thickened.
7.	Ready to serve with rice.
	Tips for pan-frying tofu:
i.	Use a non-stick pan. I prefer using a small brush to add the oil evenly on the pan before heating the pan.
ii.	It is easy to pan-fry tofu pieces over lower heat.
iii	Leave each side of the tofu pieces alone for about 1-2 minutes. Do not turn them or agitate them in any other way. Just gently shake them to make sure they don't stick to the pan. When you see a golden crust beginning to creep its way up the sides of the slices, turn them and pan-fry another side. Add a little bit more oil if the pan seems too dry.