Whit a belter: Take a wee baguette, slather some spicy mayo on both sides, then add some slabs of marinated, fried tofu and a little pickled veg.
Ingredients:
4 small (one-person) or 2 medium baguette
400g block of firm tofu
3 TBs soy sauce
2 TBs cornflour
3 TBs oil for frying
2 small or 1 medium carrot
Medium cucumber
1 lime
2/3 cup / 10 TB / 150ml mayo (I like Plamil Egg-Free, but I also make my own)
1/2 tsp chipotle paste
A little coriander (optional)
Recipe
Grate or julienne the carrot. Cut the cucumber lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon. Grate, julienne or mandoline slice the cucumber. Toss the veg with 1 TB soy sauce and the juice and zest of the lime. Let it sit as long as you can, tossing the veg occasionally.
Slice the tofu into 8 slabs — to get them even, it’s easiest to half it, then halve the halves, then halve them — and press them. Here is a guide, but really all you need to do is sit the slices on a clean tea towel then put something heavy on top of them for 30 minutes.
Once pressed, get a frying pan up to a medium-hight heat. Coat the tofu in the remaining 2 TBs soy sauce then dredge in the cornflour. Add the oil then the tofu to the hot pan, turning once or twice over the course of around 10 minutes, until it’s done.
While the tofu is frying, drain the veg as well as possible, and stir the chipotle paste into the mayo.
Slice your baguette(s) lengthways (and halve them if using medium ones), then slather the mayo on both sides, then the tofu, veg and some chopped coriander if desired.
