This vegetarian Chinese Lemon Tofu is adapted from an old Women’s Weekly ‘Lemon Chicken’ recipe and is probably something that should only be enjoyed occasionally 🙂 being delicious lemony pieces of deep fried tofu… yum! I love Chinese Vegetables to accompany this somewhat not so healthy dish and combined with almonds and ginger it is a great way to enjoy a variety of healthy and nutritious green veggies. Use whatever ones you have on hand, spinach, snow peas, green capsicum and bean sprouts also work very well. Serve the dishes warm with plenty of steamed rice and enjoy!!

Vegetarian Chinese Lemon Tofu

Preparation Time: 30mins (+ 30mins to soak the tofu) // Serves 4

• 600g (21 oz) organic firm tofu
• 3-4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 shallots, sliced
• 1-2 tbs roasted sesame seeds
• rice bran oil for deep frying

for the batter

• ½ cup corn flour (cornstarch)
• 3 tbs water
• 4 free-range egg yolks, lightly beaten
• salt & pepper

for the Lemon Sauce

• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbs corn flour (cornstarch)
• 1-2 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tbs organic honey
• ½ tbs brown sugar

Dice the tofu into 5cm/2inch x 1cm/0.4inch cubes and soak in the vegetable broth for 30 minutes; strain and drain on absorbent paper; set aside.

To make the sauce combine all the ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a gradually boil and stir over a low heat for 5-10 minutes until the sauce is clear and syrupy. Keep the sauce warm as it will start to congeal if it is allowed to cool.

To make the batter gradually add the water to the corn flour (cornstarch) and then add the egg yolks stirring until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil till hot in a deep fryer or deep frypan. Dip each piece of tofu into the batter and allow any excess to drip off before carefully placing into the hot oil to deep fry.

Only add a few pieces of tofu at a time and cook until the batter turns golden; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on absorbent paper. Keep the cooked pieces warm while you cook the remainder.

Once all the pieces of tofu are cooked, slice them in half and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Combine the tofu with the sliced shallots and drizzle over the sauce. Toss to combine.

Serve warm accompanied with steamed rice and Chinese Green Vegetables.

This recipe was inspired by Lemon Chicken found in the Women’s Weekly Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook.

Chinese Green Vegetables

Preparation Time: 15 mins // Serves 4

• 300g (10.5 oz) broccoli florets
• 1 brown onion
• 3 celery sticks
• 300g (10.5 oz) bok choy
• 70g (2.5 oz) blanched almonds
• 1 tbs fresh grated ginger
• ¾ cup warm vegetable broth
• 1 tbs rice bran oil
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Peel and slice the onion into wedges and then peel apart the layers. Slice the celery diagonally into thick pieces and roughly chop the bok choy.

Heat the oil in a wok or large fry pan; add the blanched almonds and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden; add the vegetables and ginger; toss together lightly to coat with oil.

Add the warm broth and bring to a gently simmer, continue to cook, tossing occasionally for 3-4 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Serve as a side dish or light main accompanied with steamed rice and soy sauce to taste.