Tofu Banh Mi

Check out our tofu banh mi! If you punks haven't heard of (or tried) banh mi yet, you're missing out. It's a classic Vietnamese dish, generally consisting of a baguette (a.k.a. banh mi) filled with a mix of meats and vegetables - of course, there's no meat in sight with our tofu banh mi!

Tofu Banh Mi [Vegan]

Ingredients

• 2 small baguettes (or a bigger one cut in half)
• Vegan mayo for spreading
• 2/3 of a block extra-firm tofu - pressed for at least an hour, and cut into 1cm thick slices...just chuck the whole block in if you're feeling hungry and not sure what to do with the rest
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons Sriracha - depends how spicy you like it, but you can always add more (+ extra to drizzle on if you want)
• 2 cloves garlic - grated
• 2cm piece of ginger - grated
• Splash of coconut or groundnut oil
• 1/2 cucumber - julienned length ways with a mandoline or peeler (pat dry before you use so you don't make everything else soggy)
• 1 large carrot - julienned length ways with a mandoline or peeler
• 4 large baby-gem lettuce leaves
• Handful of fresh coriander - roughly chopped

Preparation

1. Pre-heat your oven to whatever temperature is recommended with your baguette if you're using a par-baked one (or just a low temperature if you want to heat an already baked baguette up)
2. In a bowl, mix together the maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, tamari/soy, sriracha, garlic and ginger
3. Add your tofu to the marinade, making sure all pieces get covered, and leave to sit for 10-15 minutes (if you're patient enough...however, if you're trying to keep it quick you can definitely just crack on)
4. We're assuming your bread is going to take ~10mins to heat through (the par-baked baguettes we usually get take 8-10mins), so get them in the oven now - just keep an eye on them as you don't want dry banh mi!
5. Get a frying pan on your hob over a medium-high heat and add a splash of oil
6. Once the pan is nice and hot, add your tofu and cook on the first side for a couple of minutes (keep the marinade!)
7. Just before flipping, add some of the leftover marinade to the top of the tofu, so that when you flip it the side that's about to hit the pan is covered
8. Do this 2 more times (so each side of the tofu has been cooked twice, making sure to add more marinade before flipping each time) - turn the heat down a bit if necessary, a bit of char is cool but you don't want burnt tofu!
9. Cut open your baguettes and spread with vegan mayo, then layer up the lettuce, cucumber and carrot
10. Top with the tofu, a good handful of coriander and an extra drizzle of sriracha if you like it hot
11. Bang - tofu banh mi. Best served with an ice-cold bottle of Saigon!

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/tofu-banh-mi-vegan/