Vegan Dau Sot Ca Chua (Vietnamese Tofu with Tomato Sauce)

This is another dish from Southeast Asia that I recently learned often contains that fantasic Southeast Asian vegetarian-pisser-offer: fish sauce. It was after my second trip to Vietnam that I realised this dish (which I ordered every day) most likely contained fish sauce. It's something to which I hadn't given any thought, but there's no point in worrying about the past. Rather, I had my own go at something basic and simple, and this was the result.

Recipe Notes

This super-easy vegetarian recipe only takes ten or 15 minutes, if that, and makes a healthy and yummy snack or main meal accompaniment. You could serve it as a main meal, but it would be suggested to increase the quantities a bit, naturally.

Vegan Vietnamese Tomato Tofu (Dau Sot Ca Chua)

Serves two, as a starter. Double to serve as a main with rice.

Ingredients
- 225g firm tofu
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 200g chopped tomato, preferably fresh (but tinned is ok)
- 25 ml water
- 4 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
- White pepper, to taste
- Spring onion
- Groundnut / peanut oil, to deep fry

Directions/Method
1. Press the tofu so you can get as much water out as possible. Cut the tofu into triangles, slices, or cubes no more than about two inches long.
2. To make the sauce, which you should probably do first, simply fry up the garlic in some oil, add the tomato, water, half of the lime juice, the soy sauce, the pepper, and the sugar. Leave to simmer over a medium-low heat while you prepare the tofu.
3. Heat a wok with a a few inches of oil to a medium temperature and deep fry the tofu pieces until lightly browned. An alternative is of course to lightly fry in oil on a skillet or even to bake, but deep-fried tofu is a treat!
4. Serve the deep-fried tofu with the tomato sauce on top. Drizzle the remaining lime juice and some sliced spring onion over the dish, and go pig out. Serve with rice and/or grilled veg to bulk up into a fuller meal.