SPICED TOFU & PEACH, BURNT AUBERGINE, SAMBAL MATAH

A fun summer bite, using peach in a savoury setting.

Marinated spiced tofu with seared peach, aubergine puree and sambal matah, a fragrant Balinese raw sambal, that we ate large quantities of on our recent trip to Bali.

The tofu is fun served as lettuce cups, wrapping the tofu, peach, puree and herbs in the salad leaf. Or you could serve it with rice, my top pick for this dish would be black rice - which would look stunning but is also high in antioxidants, as are all the reds and purples of the fruit and veg world.  

I struggled to decide on the sauces to go with this, I wanted a creamy element, but couldn’t find the right one at first. I think the aubergine puree goes really nicely. I did also try it with tahini and an avocado aioli, which were both very nice, but the aubergine tips it for me. 

serves 2

Spiced tofu 

300g firm tofu, drained

2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds 

2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  

½ teaspoon chilli powder 

1 teaspoon smoked paprika 

1 teaspoon salt 

Rapeseed oil for frying 

Corn flour - to coat the tofu 

1 red  onion, finely diced 

6 cloves garlic, minced

25ml rapeseed oil 

1 peach, cut into wedges

Sambal matah 

4 round shallot about 50g 

1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated

1 birds eye chilli or  1 dutch red chilli, depending on how hot you like it. Dutch chilli is much milder 

3 kaffir lime leaves

2 lemongrass

½ teaspoon coconut or rapadura sugar 

½ - 1 teaspoon salt or to taste 

Aubergine puree 

1 aubergine 

Juice ½ lemon 

1 small clove garlic 

20g olive oil 

15g tahini 

½ teaspoon salt - or to taste 

To finish

Fresh herbs, picked dill and coriander are my favourite, thai basil would be great too.

Mix the spiced for the tofu in a bowl. Cut the tofu into inch squares, gently mix with the dry rub, careful not to break the pieces up. 

You can let this marinade for a few hours but if you want it quicker you still get a lovely crust within 30 minutes. 

While it’s marinating, make the sambal matah and aubergine puree. 

For the aubergine puree, burn the aubergine on an open flame until it’s blackened all over. Set aside to cool. 

While the aubergine cools, make the sambal. Finely slice the shallot, finely mince the garlic or use a microplane to grate it, and finely dice the chilli. Destem and finely slice the kaffir lime leaves. Remove the tough outer layer and woody end from the lemongrass, finely slice the rest. Mix all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Taste for seasoning, you want the salt, sugar, and lime to balance nicely so it’s neither too sour nor sweet. 

For the aubergine puree, peel off the blackened skin. Transfer to a small blender, along with the rest of the ingredients and blend for 30 seconds to a minute, until totally smooth, taste for seasoning and set aside. 

Toss your tofu in cornflour and shake off the excess. Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat, and add oil for frying the tofu. 

Once the pan is hot, add the tofu to the pan, turning the pieces so it’s browned and crispy all over, remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out the pan, be careful as it will be hot. In a hot pan, sear the peach wedges for about 1 minute on each side, remove and set aside.

Add 50ml rapeseed oil to the pan, add the onion, cook two minutes until translucent, then add the garlic and chilli, cook for another minute, add the tofu. Gently mix so the tofu is coated and all warm through.

To make the lettuce cups, divide the puree between the lettuce cups, fill them with tofu, peach, and finish with sambal matah and fresh herbs. This makes a really nice light meal. You can also serve it with some steamed rice or noodles. Or even in a baguette as a sort of banh mi!