Vietnamese-style loaded fries
Inspired by Vietnam’s famous banh mi sandwich, a popular street food with hot, spicy and sweet flavours, these fries are loaded with sweet glazed tofu, quick pickled vegetables, mayonnaise and hot sauce. If you have an air fryer, you can use it to cook the fries.
Ingredients
- 500g/1lb 2oz frozen French fries
For the quick pickled vegetables
- 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp golden caster sugar
- 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
- 4–6 radishes, thinly sliced
For the glazed tofu
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp lemongrass paste
- 1 tsp soft light brown sugar
- 1 lime, juice only
- 280g/10oz extra firm tofu, drained
- ½ tbsp light oil
- small handful fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
- Japanese mayonnaise, to serve
- sriracha chilli sauce, to serve
Method
Cook the French fries according to packet instructions, or for 20 minutes on the chip setting (this should be roughly 200C) in an air fryer.
Meanwhile, make the quick pickles. In a small bowl, stir the vinegar, salt and caster sugar together until dissolved. Add the vegetables, stir to coat in the pickling liquid and set aside.
To make the sauce for the glazed tofu, whisk together the soy sauce, lemongrass paste, brown sugar and lime juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
Squeeze as much excess moisture as possible out of the tofu and pat dry on kitchen paper. Cut into bite-sized cubes.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium–high heat until shimmering. Add the tofu and fry for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally. The tofu cubes should become slightly browned and crisped around the edges.
Turn the heat up to high and add the sauce. Leave the sauce to bubble away, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced to a sticky glaze that coats the tofu cubes.
Divide the cooked French fries between two bowls and divide the tofu pieces between them. Pat the quick pickles dry on kitchen paper and sprinkle them over the bowls along with the coriander leaves. Drizzle each bowl generously with Japanese mayonnaise and sriracha sauce before serving.
Recipe Tips
Japanese mayonnaise is richer and creamier than European-style mayo; it is made with rice vinegar and is usually sold in a squeezy bottle. If you can’t find it, you can use regular mayo instead.
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