A vegan twist on a classic Thai red curry dish served in a simple fashion as an appetizer that’s ready in 30 minutes. Crispy sesame crusted tofu sits in an easy to make coconut curry sauce finished with cashew pieces, green onions and microgreens.
This recipe combines just a few ingredients that make this dish come together so quickly for the perfect vegan-friendly appetizer. It’s an easy curry that’s healthy, cozy, creamy, and a little spicy all made in one skillet.
In this recipe we used store bought Thai red curry paste to keep things simple and easier. By all means a homemade curry paste would be even better if you have the time. We opted not to marinade the tofu here as well to keep this recipe to 30 minutes. A quick marinade of commonly used spices in curries would be appropriate here and amplify the flavors when bitting into the tofu. We’d recommend going with ginger, tumeric, garlic, even some brown sugar for a touch of sweet. Using the store bought paste is also what thickens the sauce so quickly and get’s it onto the bowl ready to eat much faster.
A great alternative to tofu here would be some larger pieces of shrimp if this fits your diet better. Our recommendation is to pan fry them in sesame oil until pink and set aside covered until the sauce is ready. What we’ve also done for parties is serve to versions since the sauce does make quite a bit we were able to serve tofu and shrimp at the same time in separate dishes.
We hope you enjoy this recipe! We’ve love to hear from you tag us @thecommunalfeast and #thecommunalfeast
A vegan twist on a classic Thai red curry dish served in a simple fashion as an appetizer that’s ready in 30 minutes. Crispy sesame crusted tofu sits in an easy to make coconut curry sauce finished with cashew pieces, green onions and microgreens.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Total Time30 minutesmins
Course: Appetizers
Servings: 4
Author: the communal feast
Ingredients
For the tofu:
½block extra firm tofucan do the entire amount if serving more than 4 ppl
1. Wrap tofu with paper towel and press to remove excess water. Slice into 2 bite sized rectangles
2. Divide into shallow bowls, cornstarch, milk, and breadcrumbs with sesame seeds. Coat each piece of tofu starting with the cornstarch, dip in the milk and finish in the breadcrumbs. Repeat until each piece is fully coated
3. In a medium saucepan, heat sesame oil. Fry tofu until crispy and golden and each side ensuring not to overcrowd the pan about 5 minutes on each side. (cook in batches if needed)
4. Once all the tofu is cooked cover and keep warm.
5. To make the sauce: in the same saucepan, cook ginger and garlic until fragrant about 1 minute. Add a splash of oil if needed. Add the curry paste, stirring to combine with garlic and ginger. Finish by adding the coconut milk stirring until fully incorporated. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce to simmer for 5 minutes.
6. To serve: transfer the sauce into a serving bowl, place each piece of tofu around the bowl and finish with cashews, and garnish.