A light vegetarian dish that’s as breezy as it is delicious. 

Recipe and photo: Extract from Miss Polly’s Kitchen

A beautiful summery meal that won’t take long to throw together. I love the Asian flavours in the dressing, combined with the sweetness of the mandarin juice. Dusting the tofu in cornflour gives it a little crunch and subtle flavour. I would also make this dish with prawns or chicken. If you aren’t cooking for vegetarians, you can use fish sauce instead of the coconut aminos.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

650 g (1 lb 7 oz) firm tofu
⅓ cup cornflour
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 large heads bok choy
320 g (11¼ oz) soba noodles
A drizzle of oil
1 cup peas
1 avocado – flesh sliced
1 cup roughly chopped fresh coriander
1 cup roughly chopped fresh mint
¼ cup roughly chopped pickled ginger
1 red chilli – thinly sliced

Tangy Mandarin Dressing:
1 medium shallot – very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons coconut aminos or fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Zest of 2 mandarins
Juice of 4 mandarins
Juice of 2 juicy limes

METHOD

To make the Tangy Mandarin Dressing, whisk the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil on a high heat.

Pat the tofu dry with paper towels. Cut the tofu into 2 cm (¾ in) slices, then cut each slice in half lengthways. Mix the cornflour, onion powder and garlic powder on a plate. Dip each piece of tofu into the cornflour mix (you want a generous coating). Set aside.

Trim off the base of the bok choy and cut the leaves crossways into 2 cm (¾ in) slices. Add the soba noodles to the boiling water and cook as per the packet instructions. While the noodles are cooking, heat a large pan on a medium/high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry the tofu in batches until crispy on both sides. Set aside.

When the noodles have 30 seconds of cook time to go, add the bok choy and peas. Pour the noodles and veggies into a colander then run under cold water for roughly 20 seconds. Drain well and transfer to a serving platter.

Add the avocado and half the coriander and mint and toss gently. Arrange the tofu pieces on top of the noodles. Spoon over the chunky bits from the Tangy Mandarin Dressing, then pour over the dressing.

Garnish with the ginger, chilli and the remaining coriander and mint.

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Images and text from Miss Polly’s Kitchen by Polly Markus, photography by Melanie Jenkins (Flash Studios), published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP $45.00.