By Yotam Ottolenghi
Updated Feb. 14, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- 4(159)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Silky and comforting, this dish draws inspiration from a Persian barberry khoresh (stew). In this adaptation, traditional chicken gives way to tofu, creating a vegan dish while preserving the inherent sweet-sour balance emblematic of Persian cuisine. Caramelized onions, carrots and oranges add sweetness, while the distinctive tartness is achieved through the addition of barberries, small red berries prized equally for their high acidity and their jewel-like appearance. They deepen to a rich red when cooked. Barberries can be hard to find — you could check your favorite specialty shop, or order them online — or simply substitute cranberries plus the addition of an extra teaspoon of vinegar. Sweet, sour and saucy, this tofu dish is best enjoyed with a side of rice.
Featured in: A Sweet-and-Sour Tofu That Balances It All
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 2(15-ounce) packages firm tofu, drained, halved horizontally then each piece cut into 6 cubes (24 cubes total)
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- Heaping ⅓ cup dried barberries (or dried cranberries; see Tip)
- ¼ teaspoon saffron strands
- 2small yellow onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 2medium carrots, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
- 1orange; 4 strips zest removed with a peeler then thinly sliced, plus ¼ cup juice
- 1cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3garlic cloves, minced
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- ⅔cup cornstarch
- 2teaspoons granulated sugar or brown sugar
- 1teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
979 calories; 76 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 44 grams monounsaturated fat; 18 grams polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 952 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Pat the tofu dry with a clean kitchen towel, then transfer the tofu to a medium bowl and season with 2 teaspoons salt, gently mixing as you go to ensure an even coating of salt. Set aside to absorb for at least 15 minutes.
Step
2
While the tofu sits, place the barberries in a small bowl and the saffron in another small bowl. Pour ½ cup of boiling water over each and set aside.
Step
3
Add the onions, carrots, orange zest, ⅔ cup oil and 1 teaspoon salt to a large, high-sided skillet, and cook over high for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the onions have softened and started to crisp up at the edges.
Step
4
Drain the barberries through a small sieve, discarding the liquid, and add them to the onion mixture along with the garlic, cumin and allspice. Stir for 30 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat.
Step
5
Transfer roughly 2 tablespoons of the onion mixture into a small bowl and add the pine nuts to make the topping.
Step
6
Add the remaining ⅓ cup of oil to a large skillet set over high heat. Add the cornstarch to the tofu and toss until evenly coated (small clumps are fine). Once the oil is hot, transfer half of the tofu to the pan and cook for a minute on each side, just to seal, using tongs to gently turn the tofu, then repeat with the remaining tofu.
Step
7
Remove from the heat and add the tofu to the high-sided skillet with the onions, along with the orange juice, saffron and saffron water, sugar, vinegar and 1½ cups of water. Cook over medium-high, stirring gently for 1 minute, so that the sauce evenly coats the tofu, then leave to cook untouched until the oil starts to split out of the sauce, 3 to 5 minutes more.
Step
8
Remove the pan from the heat and scatter over the pine nut topping. Sprinkle over the cilantro and serve straight from the pan.
Tip
- Barberries are easy to find online, but they are not widely available in stores. If desired, you can try substituting with cranberries plus the addition of an extra teaspoon of vinegar. If using cranberries, there’s no need to soak them before adding to the tofu.
Ratings
4
out of 5
159
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Shobha
If you grill or roast the tofu, you will not be requiring any cornstach whilst reducing fat by not deep frying. You could if you wanted to brush the tofu and or the tray with a touch of oil to have them a little crispy. I do the same with Chinese Sesame Prawn Toast and a number of other dishes.
elissa-wa
Made this for Valentine’s Day dinner - husband loved it. There are a lot of things to do in this but it’s very tasty. It’s reminds me of a light Chinese orange chicken dish but healthier, not quite as crispy, made with tofu and seasoned with Persian flavors. So not that similar - lol.
Gerry in Tucson
On a quest to really enjoy tofu, I was delighted to see this recipe and followed it to the letter. What can I say. Disappointing. Took me close to an hour. For whatever reason the flavours were murky, no bright notes. BUT - used the microwave trick for draining tofu and the texture of that was perfect. Will not make this again but remain an Ottolenghi fan.
Margaret
Delish! Will make again. Used 1/4 c olive oil in step 3, and 2 tbsp on a baking sheet, grilling the tofu instead of coating in corn starch and cooking in a pan. Added last ingredients into onion/etc. mixture with 3 tbsp cornstarch in 1 cup water (instead of 1.5 c). Brought to a quick boil, turned down to low, gently stirred in tofu, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, and simmered on low, 5 minutes. Was SO GOOD - thank you!
Kelly
Looks like you need enough to coat the tofu cubes; I would treat it like a dredge, where you coat each piece and shake off the excess. That should cut down on the amount in the final dish.
Janet S Los Osos
I was excited to try this recipe..until I got to the 2/3 cup of cornstarch requirement. I can barely stand to use a Tbsp.Do you think it would work with less cornstarch?
Lisa C
This was very good. But felt like a lot of complex effort for a fairly simple end result. Pine nuts and cilantro are key to making it both delicious and appetizing.
stefant
I love to cook with tofu, but this was a a very disappointing dish. Slimy tofu texture, unpleasant flavor brought by orange in combination with all spices, tofu and way to much salt. Most of all, this is a very labor intensive dish. Struggled for well over an hour. Was not worth the effort. For the cooks who like to try cooking this dish, I recommend to use ‘extra’ firm tofu and fry it to a crisp and to skip the corn starch.
mmkay
One of the rare times that all of what I call my esoteric pantry ingredients matched a recipe. The only thing I changed in the recipe was cooking the tofu in the oven with an olive oil cornstarch coating. But I’m rather underwhelmed by the final product. Seems like it’s missing something Usually love Ottolenghi recipes but this needed some kind of something else to make it worthwhile.
elissa-wa
Made this for my husband on Valentine’s Day because he loves Persian flavors and eating vegetarian. It was a hit. There’s a lot to do in this recipe but it was worth it.
Bea
The technique for salting the tofu was interesting and I would do that again. The sauce was okay but not great, particularly given the price of some of the ingredients.
Jan
Where do the sliced oranges go? I added them with the juice & it worked well. This is delicious & I’ll make it again
Name
Very time consuming and confusing instructions. Read through first. Elaine made, baking tofu with cornstarch and olive oil until fairly crispy. Made half recipe - 3 servings. Nice light flavor. Elaine wouldn’t make again - David yes. Used cranberries. Julienne peeler worked for carrots.
vana
This recipe is a nightmare. You will have a disaster to clean up and a horrible dinner. You need a minimum of two large frying pans -one to fry and the other for the sauted onion carrot and orange mixture. The recipe does not make clear to use separate pans for all the steps and not to mix the two until the end. This is in addition to bowls for the tofu berries, saffron, onions and the orange juice mixture. Oh and one more for the pine nut garnish. Save yourself a major headache and order out.
FC
Adding this to my recipes to try list!
Mike M
TASTY but way too oily so will try the prudent suggestions to either grill or bake tofu next time (I wish I read these recommendations before cooking since preparation was more time consuming than indicated). I added peas & finely chopped mushrooms for a nutritionally complete vegan meal which also added depth of flavors.
Marcia
I had the ingredients and wanted to use those barberries. It’s ok, but not wonderful and a lot of work. I doubt I’ll try it again.
Madeleine
I don't like tofu so I made this with boneless chicken breast and served with Persian rice. Wonderful.
Txpeach
I use wheatgerm instead of cornstarch. It works beautifully on tofu.
Andrea
I agree with the others who say it’s “murky” and fussy and the tofu just gets slimy. One of the few times Ottolenghi does not deliver for me.
GingerGirl
I have a barberry bush hedge, so I wondered if the berries could be foraged for this dish. Turns out they are edible. They are thorny little buggers, so watch out!https://britishlocalfood.com/barberry/
Jan
Where do the sliced oranges go? I added them with the juice & it worked well. This is delicious & I’ll make it again
Nick
My thoughts exactly! Have not even eaten yet and looked at the orange slices and am scratching my head
Aech
There are no orange slices in the recipe. You slice the four large strips of zest and juice the orange. Since several people have asked about orange slices, though, I think the recipe writing could be clearer.
PW
Pretty good, maybe worth it when you have the time, but it's a lot of steps and a ton of cleanup. Not a weeknight project.
msbb
This wasn’t bad, but wasn’t worth the time and effort it took to make. I made as described, with the one exception being the amount of oil. The recipe calls for WAY TOO MUCH oil. I halved the first amount for the onion and carrot mixture and made the tofu in the air fryer. Again, not bad, but it took over an hour to make and was just okay.
Sharon
My sentiments exactly.
Andrew
The photo looks like you end up with sauced tofu, but the recipe and headnote suggest something much wetter like a stew. What did people who’ve made it get?
Mike M
Exactly. Cooked as directed yields an OILY stew. The "food stylist" created an appealing photo that does not look like the completed soupy dish.
Randal P.
Great dish! Having never eaten a barberry, I sampled a hydrated one and I could not tell the difference between it and a dried cranberry. For convenience and to save money, next time I will use dried cranberries, substitute peanuts for pine nuts and skip the saffron.
Alex
The people freaking out about the cornstarch: you only are using it to dredge. What isn’t attached to the tofu is left behind. You’re not eating 2/3 cup cornstarch. Also, if you let the dredged tofu sit a minute, the cornstarch on the surface hydrates a bit which I’ll stop it from falling off during cooking and getting into the finished dish
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