Black Pepper Tofu Stir Fry With Brown Rice

Rinse your brown rice, add it to a pot with plenty of cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20-25 min or until it's tender with a slight bite

Once cooked, drain, return it to the pot and keep covered until serving

Drain your tofu and pat it dry with kitchen paper

Tear the tofu into bite-sized pieces

Add the torn tofu to a large bowl with most of your cornflour (save a little for later!), your five-spice mix and umami seasoning and give everything a good mix up until all the tofu is coated – this is your coated tofu

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Once hot, add the coated tofu to the pan and cook for 8-10 min, turning occasionally or until golden and crisp – this is your crispy tofu

Once done, transfer the tofu to kitchen paper and set aside, reserve the pan

Meanwhile, peel and finely slice your brown onion[s]

Deseed your pepper[s] (scrape the seeds and pith out with a teaspoon) and cut into thin strips

Peel and finely chop (or grate) your garlic

Trim, then slice your spring onion[s] finely on the diagonal

Combine the remaining cornflour and your soy sauce in a bowl with your Chinese rice wine, red chilli relish, 75ml [100ml] [130ml] cold water and 1 tsp [1 1/2 tsp] [2 tsp] sugar – this is your stir fry sauce

Return the reserved pan to a high heat and once hot, add the sliced onion and pepper strips with a small pinch of salt and cook for 4-5 min or until softened

Once softened, reduce the heat to medium and add your ginger paste and cracked black pepper (not a fan of pepper? Just add a little!) with the chopped garlic

Cook for a further 1 min or until fragrant

Once fragrant, return the crispy tofu to pan with the stir fry sauce and cook for 1-2 min or until the sauce has thickened and the tofu is well coated – this is your black pepper tofu stir fry