Carole Food.
Trini Pepper Tofu
This dish is usually made with prawns but I’ve kept it vegan and used tofu instead! Trinidad has a lot of Chinese influenced recipes and this one is slightly reminiscent of a sweet and sour sauce but with green seasoning and scotch bonnet. It’s perfect with plain or fried rice, or some egg noodles!
Jump to recipeThis dish is usually made with prawns but I’ve kept it vegan and used tofu instead! Trinidad has a lot of Chinese influenced recipes and this one is slightly reminiscent of a sweet and sour sauce but with green seasoning and scotch bonnet. It’s perfect with plain or fried rice, or some egg noodles!
Why you’ll love this dish
- Easy - this recipe is really easy and the sauce is ready in the time it takes to cook the tofu!
- Flavour - there’s loads of different flavours in this dish. We’ve got sweet, spicy, aromatic, it’s all there!
What ingredients do you need for this dish (includes possible substitutions)?
Extra firm tofu: this can be substituted for prawns if you wish! Just prep the prawns as usual then add them in the pan after you’ve added the garlic and ginger etc.
Onion: you’ll need 1 large brown onion, if you only have smaller ones, use two!
Bell pepper: you can use any colour! You could also add a thinly sliced carrot in here too.
Garlic: lots and lots of garlic is needed in this recipe!
Ginger: don’t skip this as it’s key to the flavour!
Scotch bonnet: definitely try and find scotch bonnet for this recipe!
Green seasoning: I have a recipe for green seasoning here, but if easier, you could just add 5g of chopped thyme, chopped chives and chopped shado beni (or coriander).
Ketchup: essential to this recipe as it’s the base for the sauce.
Sesame oil: again, this is essential to the recipe!
Light soy sauce: adds seasoning and flavour to the dish.
Cornflour: thickens the sauce.
What to serve this with?
This is great served with fried rice, plain rice, egg noodles or chow mein.
Instructions
Cook the tofu
Preheat the oven to 220c fan. Line a large shallow baking tray with baking paper. Drizzle 1-2 tbsp of oil then add the tofu. Sprinkle over salt, the garlic powder and dried thyme. Mix it all together so the tofu is evenly covered, then space the tofu out evenly on the baking tray. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, or until it’s crisp and golden.
Fry the onion and pepper
In a medium saucepan over a high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil then the onion and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir often.
Add the aromatics
Reduce the heat to medium then add garlic, ginger, chilli and green seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir often.
Make the sauce
In a small glass, mix together the cornflour with 75ml of cold water. Add the ketchup, sesame oil, light soy sauce and cornflour mixed with water to the pan. Increase heat to high and simmer for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Taste for seasoning (it may need a pinch more salt), stir in the tofu, and that’s everything!
FAQ
What’s the best way to store this dish?
The tofu will loose its crunch if placed in the fridge, but if you don’t mind this then lace in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Then reheat either in the microwave, in the oven, or on the hob.
Can this be frozen?
Yes! However similar to above the tofu will loose a bit of its crunch. Defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat as above.
If you’re looking for another dish, be sure to try out these recipes:
Trini Pepper Tofu
This dish is usually made with prawns but I’ve kept it vegan and used tofu instead! Trinidad has a lot of Chinese influenced recipes and this one is slightly reminiscent of a sweet and sour sauce but with green seasoning and scotch bonnet. It’s perfect with plain or fried rice, or some egg noodles!
Ingredients
for the tofu
- 300g extra firm tofu, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Oil, salt
for the sauce
- 1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
- 1 bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 4-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1/2 scotch bonnet chilli, finely chopped (add more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
- 1 tbsp green seasoning
- 100ml ketchup
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- Oil, salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220c fan. Line a large shallow baking tray with baking paper. Drizzle 1-2 tbsp of oil then add the tofu. Sprinkle over salt, the garlic powder and dried thyme. Mix it all together so the tofu is evenly covered, then space the tofu out evenly on the baking tray. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, or until it’s crisp and golden.
- In a medium saucepan over a high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil then the onion and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir often.
- Reduce the heat to medium then add garlic, ginger, chilli and green seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir often.
- In a small glass, mix together the cornflour with 75ml of cold water.
- Add the ketchup, sesame oil, light soy sauce and cornflour mixed with water to the pan. Increase heat to high and simmer for 2 minutes stirring constantly.
- Taste for seasoning (it may need a pinch more salt), stir in the tofu, and that’s everything!
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