Tahu Gejrot: Sweet & Spicy Tofu Puffs (Vegan)

Tahu gejrot is a fun tofu dish from West Java! It consists of small cut-up pieces of tofu puffs dunked in sweet and spicy soy sauce. It’s more of a snack than a dish to be eaten with rice, or as a meal, and is often sold as street food in and around Jakarta.

For this recipe, the tofu used is hollow deep fried tofu. This is also known as tahu pong in Indonesian, tau pok in Singapore and Malaysia, tofu puffs in English. The tofu is deep-fried. Separately, a thick broth of soy sauce, tamarind and chillies is made, and subsequently poured over the fried tofu.

Tau pok can be bought frozen from the supermarkets in Singapore/Malaysia, and comes pre-fried. You can just take them out of the packet and refry them, but I’m a bit paranoid and so I soak them in hot water just to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, this results in a lot of water absorption, which will cause unholy splattering when deep-fried. Try to leave it to dry or use a paper towel to soak up as much moisture as possible. It’s safe to deep-fry after that.

Tahu Gejrot: Sweet & Spicy Tofu Puffs (Vegan)

• Author: Deyana Goh
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 2 1x
• Category: Tofu & Tempe
• Method: Boiling
• Cuisine: Indonesian
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Tahu gejrot is a popular dish from West Java, consisting of fried tofu puffs (tahu pong or taupok) drenched in a gravy of soy sauce, tamarind, and chillies.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 100gr tofu puffs
• 4 shallots
• 1 red bird’s eye chilli
• 2 green bird’s eye chillies
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp sweet soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese parsley
• 30 ml water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Oil for deep frying

 

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Instructions

1. Soak the tofu in hot water for 5 min. Drain, squeeze the water out, and then either deep fry or toast it.
2. Cut the tofu up into small strips or bite-sized pieces.
3. Pound the shallots, chillies and garlic coarsely.
4. Dilute the tamarind paste in 30 ml water.
5. In a pot, bring the tamarind water to a boil. 
6. Add the pounded paste and the sweet soy sauce. Let it boil for 10 mins.
7. Turn off the stove. Pour the broth over the fried tofu. Garnish with Chinese parsley and serve.

   

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Notes

• I’ve made a less spicy version of the dish. If you prefer more spice, add more bird’s eye chillies.

Keywords: Quick and Easy, Vegan, Taupok, Tamrind, Soy Sauce