Deliciously salty little protein bombs, crunchy on the outside & soft in the centre. Sesame & tofu are a long-honoured combination, but instead of using whole seeds, I’ve crushed the sesame to form a floury coating on the tofu chunks. The dipping sauce adds a gingery zing – perfect for snacking.
1 block tofu, between 275-300 grams (see notes below)
3 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp tapioca starch or arrowroot
½ tsp salt
oil for shallow frying
Dipping sauce:
2 Tbsp tamari or gluten free soy sauce
1 Tbsp mirin or apple juice (orange juice works well too, for a different flavour)
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
Tofu notes: silken to medium is best, because of its soft consistency. You could use firm tofu if you had to, but it doesn’t have the same satisfying springy smoothness. If using silken, you may need to press any excess water out of it – I places slices into a clean tea towel and lay a chopping board on top for a few minutes, to gently ease any liquid out.
Dice the tofu into 2-3 cm cubes.
Grind the sesame seeds into a coarse flour – my NutriBullet makes short work of it, but I’m careful not to overdo it, as I quite like a few seedy chunks left in the mix.
In a shallow dish, mix the sesame seeds, tapioca/arrowroot and salt. Roll the tofu chunks in the floury mixture.
Heat a little oil in a fry pan on a medium heat and fry the coated tofu cubes until at least two sides are golden.
For the dipping sauce, simply stir all the ingredients together and serve in a small bowl or dish.
Serve fresh, or with a rare case of leftovers, they can be snuck into lunchboxes the next day.
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