Black Sesame Tofu and Noodles

This sesame-crusted marinated tofu is very popular, even with people who thought they didn’t like tofu. Tofu is best marinated in shoyu and ginger, rolled in sesame seeds and fried crisp and crunchy. Serve it as a snack with the marinade as a dipping sauce or with stir-fried winter greens or with noodles. The black sesame seeds add a colour contrast, but don’t worry if you haven’t got any as the recipe works just fine with white sesame seeds. You can spice things up by adding Chinese Five Spice Powder.

See how easy it is to make black sesame tofu in our bite-sized video below, then read on for the recipe!

Black Sesame Tofu and Noodles

Serves: 4 | Dietary: Vegan

Ingredients:

• 280g plain tofu
• 250g soba noodles
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 85g green beans, sliced lengthways
• 2 tbsps hijiki or arame seaweed
• small handful of fresh sprouts
• sunflower oil for shallow frying

Marinade

• 100ml apple juice
• 4 tbsps shoyu
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• thumb size piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped

Tofu Crust

• 25g cornflour
• 3 tbsps black sesame seeds
• 3 tbsps white sesame seeds
• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Method:

1. Slice the tofu horizontally, then cut diagonally into 8 triangles. Place the tofu in a shallow dish.
2. Mix together the marinade and pour over the tofu. Leave the tofu to marinade for at least a hour, turn the tofu half way through so that it marinated evenly.
3. Soak the hijiki or arame seaweed in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside
4. Cook the noodles, according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and stir in the toasted sesame oil to prevent the noodles sticking. You may not need all the cooked noodles.
5. Mix together the tofu crust ingredients. Take the tofu pieces one at a time and dip into the mix so that the crust sticks to all sides. Shallow fry the tofu, until crisp. Set aside.
6. Strain the marinade and keep as a dipping sauce.
7. In a wok, heat a teaspoon of sunflower oil and stir-fry the green beans. Add a few tablespoons of marinade and enough noodles for each person, the drained hijiki and stir fry to heat through.
8. On each plate serve a mound of the noodle mix and top with two pieces of tofu. Sprinkle with sprouts and use the marinade as a dipping sauce.

Delicious food photography by Rob Wicks of Eat Pictures.

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