Vietnamese Tomato Tofu

📝 Ingredients

• 400 g firm tofu (1 block)
• 4 very ripe tomatoes (about 120 g each)
• 2 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 spring onions
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil (2 for the tofu, 1 for the sauce)
• 240 g jasmine rice
• 460 ml water (360 ml for the rice, 100 ml for the sauce)
• Black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large non-stick frying pan
• Saucepan with lid
• Spatula
• Cutting board and knife
• Clean tea towel or kitchen paper

📖 Steps

1. Drain the tofu, wrap it in a clean tea towel and place a plate weighed down with a tin on top for 10 min to press out the water: it will brown better and won't spit. Then cut it into 2 cm cubes.
2. Rinse the rice 2 or 3 times in cold water, then put it in the saucepan with 360 ml water. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 12 min over a very low heat, then leave to rest off the heat for 5 min without lifting the lid.
3. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into large dice, keeping their juice. Thinly slice the shallots and chop the garlic. Separate the spring onion whites, which you'll slice, from the greens, which you'll cut into 1 cm lengths to finish the dish.
4. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the tofu in a single layer and brown for 8 to 10 min, turning the cubes every 2 min, until golden on several sides. Set aside on a plate.
5. In the same pan over a medium heat, add the last tbsp of oil and fry the shallot, garlic and spring onion whites for 2 min, stirring, until translucent and fragrant, without letting them brown.
6. Add the tomatoes and tomato purée, then cook for 6 to 8 min, crushing the pieces with the spatula, until the tomatoes collapse into a thick sauce. Add the soy sauce, sugar and 100 ml water, then bring to a simmer.
7. Return the tofu to the sauce, coat it gently and simmer for 5 min over a low heat, until the sauce coats the cubes nicely. Taste, add a dash of soy sauce if needed and season with pepper.
8. Scatter over the spring onion greens and serve immediately with the jasmine rice, spooning plenty of sauce over the rice: it's what makes the dish.