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| Salt and Sichaun pepper tofu bites with a crunchy, chilli-oat crust. |
I recently learnt that the Japanese, and pretty
much most of Asia, are enamoured with KFC. It's one of the few fast food
places in Hong Kong where you can dangerously order delivery (as if
popping down to your nearest one would be an absolute waste of calories -
save those puppies for the deep fried grease and wonder of that special
fried chicken). It's even been engrained into Japanese tradition on
Christmas day to queue up for some finger lickin' goodness. For my
family, what I find even more bizarre, is Mama Lo's sense of urgency to
get some KFC when she comes to London...I quickly refused to treat her
to a bargain bucket and pointed her to the direction of Wishbone in
Brixton for an assortment of sublime wings and fries.
For the past week, all I had been craving were those zinger tower devil burgers and popcorn chicken. Those damn feel good and 'witty' (even as I write that I know it's not true) ads seemed to have seeped into my brain to give in. And I would not give in.
What it did give me was a bit of inspiration for my own chicken nuggets. I could have given you Panko breadcrumbs and succulent and juicy chicken thighs, but my mind was somehow on another planet. I love salt and pepper squid, but given it was Sunday, I couldn't break into my fishmongers. And out of the larder shone a little box of tofu - and DING! It was time to convert those tofu haters with this recipe. A take on salt and pepper, with a crunchy and spicy coating with a silky smooth, but firm interior. It's a simple recipe, easy to snack on with some sriracha or sweet chilli (and almost so easy you can pop these in your mouth as quick as a packet of crisps).
For the past week, all I had been craving were those zinger tower devil burgers and popcorn chicken. Those damn feel good and 'witty' (even as I write that I know it's not true) ads seemed to have seeped into my brain to give in. And I would not give in.
What it did give me was a bit of inspiration for my own chicken nuggets. I could have given you Panko breadcrumbs and succulent and juicy chicken thighs, but my mind was somehow on another planet. I love salt and pepper squid, but given it was Sunday, I couldn't break into my fishmongers. And out of the larder shone a little box of tofu - and DING! It was time to convert those tofu haters with this recipe. A take on salt and pepper, with a crunchy and spicy coating with a silky smooth, but firm interior. It's a simple recipe, easy to snack on with some sriracha or sweet chilli (and almost so easy you can pop these in your mouth as quick as a packet of crisps).
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| Anti-tofu goers can't say no to these bad boys. |
The coating was a bit of a mouthful to put into the post title. It's made from toasted oats, chilli and Sichuan peppercorns with a sea salt sprinkling. In nugget, popcorn bites. Mouthful. But I did fall in love with this - the toasted oats gives more texture contrast to the tofu, and the Sichuan peppercorns releases a punchy lemon aroma which ties the salt finish together in quite triumphantly.
