Nori-Wrapped Tofu in a Szechuan-Style Spicy Sauce

Crispy-fried tofu wrapped in sheets of nori cooked in a spicy szechuan-inspired sauce. These Nori-Wrapped Tofu in a Szechuan-Style Spicy Sauce are perfect served with a hot bowl of rice or with some noodles!

PREPARING THE TOFU

Make sure to first, press your tofu well!

I like to wrap mine in a towel and place some boards on top of it to squeeze out the liquid.

Slice the tofu into 1-inch thick pieces.

WRAPPING THE TOFU IN SOME NORI OR ROASTED SEAWEED

I used whole sheets of nori (those used for sushi and onigirazu) and cut these up into strips.

The nori here gives that extra umami flavour and texture.

COOKING THE TOFU WRAPPED IN NORI SHEETS

I fried the tofu until golden brown and crisp on all sides before cooking it down in a szechuan-style sauce, that has a really good depth in flavour from the doubanjiang or spicy broad bean paste and then chili garlic sauce.

SERVE AND ENJOY

This one’s one of those really saucy and satisfying dishes that’s perfect enjoy with some rice. I had more than 4 pieces of these in one go and my family loves them as well!

See my recipe video below on how to make this tofu dish.

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Check out the recipe for these below!

You can also check out my other vegan tofu recipes here or down below:

Check out my tips on how to store tofu!

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Nori-Wrapped Tofu in a Spicy Sauce

Jeeca

5 from 9 votes

Crispy-fried tofu wrapped in sheets of nori cooked in a spicy szechuan-inspired sauce. The nori here gives that extra umami flavour and texture. This one’s one of those really saucy and satisfying dishes that’s perfect enjoy with some rice. I had more than 4 pieces of these in one go and my family loves them as well!

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 45

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Chinese, Szechuan

Servings

Calories 110 kcal

Ingredients

400 g extra firm tofu
2 nori sheets
Neutral oil for cooking
Pinch of salt to taste

Sauce

1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce or to taste
1/2 to 1 tbsp sugar I used coconut sugar (adjust according to desired sweetness)
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce homemade recipe here (adjust according to desired spice)
1/4 tsp ground szechuan pepper crushed from 1/2 tsp whole szechuan peppercorns
1 tsp doubanjiang or spicy broad bean paste or sub with other chili sauce
1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
1 tsp rice vinegar or distileld white vinegar

Cornstarch Slurry

1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp room temperature water

To Serve

Steamed rice or noodles
Bok choy or other vegetables

Instructions

Press tofu for at least 10 minutes to drain excess liquid. Slice the tofu into rectangular pieces, around 1" thick. Sprinkle some salt over the tofu.
You can watch the video below for a complete step-by-step.
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Feel free to adjust according to your desired taste. Set aside.
Cut the nori sheets into 1” thick pieces. If they’re long, you can always just overlap them when wrapping around the tofu. Carefully wrap each piece of tofu with the nori. You may need to rub the ends with some water if your tofu is really dry for the nori to stick together.
Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. If you're using some veggies, you can simple stir-fry these in this pan before cooking the tofu.
For the tofu: Add some oil to cover the surface of the pan. Leave the oil to get hot over medium high heat. The tofu should immediately sizzle when placed in the oil.
Once hot, place the wrapped tofu. Pan fry on each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain any excess oil.
Remove the oil from the pan. Mix the cornstarch slurry together.
In the same pan over medium heat, add the sauce. Stir and leave to simmer over medium heat until the sauce boils.
While stirring the sauce, add in the cornstarch slurry. Leave the sauce to simmer over medium heat until the sauce thickens.
Add in the fried tofu pieces. Leave to cook for 2-3 more minutes until the sauce thickens more and the tofu absorbs some sauce. Season with some more salt or soy sauce, if needed.
Turn off the heat then serve hot over some rice or noodles. Enjoy!

WATCH Video

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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This Post Has 6 Comments

Madison 7 Feb 2021 Reply

Yummy! The nori is a really good touch.
1. Jeeca 8 Feb 2021 Reply
  
  Hi Madison!! Thank you so much!! Love the nori in this too hehe.
Ev 25 Feb 2021 Reply

Made this for dinner tonight – delicious!!! That sauce is just fantastic
1. Jeeca 26 Feb 2021 Reply
  
  Hi Ev, happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks so much!
Bristol 14 Sep 2021 Reply

The nori fried up so well and didn’t get soggy after I put the sauce on it. The spicy sauce in this is amazing! I didn’t have Sichuan peppercorns so I replaced it with pink peppercorns and it worked wonderfully. Every recipe I’ve made by Jeeca is so easy and delicious ❤️
1. Jeeca 15 Sep 2021 Reply
  
  Thank you Bristol!! Really happy you enjoyed it!! ◡̈

Hello there!