Javanese-inspired tofu with peanut sauce
Why, hello Javanese-inspired recipe! What are you doing hanging around here? Indonesian cuisine is nowhere near as vaunted as Thai or Vietnamese, so what makes you think we’d be at all interested in your fried tofu yumminess and your saucey, peanutty goodness?
Sadly, it’s true. Indo food is kind of a poor cousin to ‘sexier’ Asian cuisines and that’s ever such a shame. Truthfully, with about 17,000 islands, 34 provinces, 7 major geographic regions and at least 6 major culinary traditions, you can’t really talk about 'Indonesian’ cuisine per se; it’s heavily regional and impossible to sum up in a few generalised sentences. Speaking personally, we loved the time we spent on Java several moons ago, and we particularly adored the food. It’s gutsy and earthy, filled with sweet-salty flavours, loads of veggies, tofu, and tempeh. And peanuts. Peanuts are used in aromatic pounded sauces (think of the classic salad gado gado), often loaded up with palm sugar and kecap manis; sticky-sweet kecap manis is a local obsession. Spicy sambals, rich coconut gravies, soothing noodle soups, elaborate vegetable-based plattered ‘salads’, hearty beef stews, and fried chicken are just the tip of the iceberg on Java, where the food is infused with spices that grow in the archipelago (think cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric and cumin), plus heady aromatics like galangal, lime leaves, ginger, coriander, kalamansi lime and chillies. Those rich and complex peanut sauces take things like fried tofu from ‘yeah-nah’ to “OMG where have you been all my life” in a single mouthful. So if you’re on the tofu fence, then dive face-first into this gloriously tasty ode to Java and we reckon you’ll change your mind.
SERVES 4 AS PART OF A SHARED MEAL
200g mung bean sprouts
4 Lebanese cucumbers (about 500g), trimmed and cut into batons
peanut oil, for deep-frying
600g firm tofu, drained well
rice flour for coating
50 g (⅓ cup) roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed
Peanut Sauce
2½ tbsp shaved palm sugar
2½ tbsp tamarind pulp
250ml (1 cup) boiling water
5 red bird's eye chillies, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
160 g (1 cup) roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 tbsp lime juice
For the peanut sauce, combine the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat with 125 ml (½ cup) water and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, combine the tamarind pulp with the boiling water in a bowl and stand for 15 minutes. Strain the mixture through a sieve, using your fingers to press down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Combine the chillies and garlic in a food processor and process until a smooth paste forms. Add the peanuts, tamarind liquid, palm sugar mixture and kecap manis and process until a chunky sauce forms, adding a little water if necessary - there should be a little texture in the peanuts. Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often, over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until the flavours develop. Add a little more water if the mixture becomes too thick. Stir in the lime juice and remove from the heat.
Toss the mung bean sprouts and cucumber in a bowl then divide among plates or place on a large platter. Heat enough peanut oil for deep-frying in a large saucepan or wok to 170°C on a thermometer, or until a cube of bread turns golden in 20 seconds.
Meanwhile cut the tofu into pieces about 5 x 2.5 cm and toss in the rice flour to coat, shaking off any excess flour. Fry the tofu pieces, in batches, for 4-5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Place them on top of the vegetables, pour over the sauce, scatter over the crushed peanuts and serve.
