Jamaican Jerk Tofu, tofu roasted in a spicy jerk marinade served with Caribbean Coleslaw and sweet Jamaican Festival dumplings.
Serving Jamaican Jerk Tofu
Jerk Tofu with Caribbean coleslaw is perfect for a light bite. Add in some sweet Festival Dumplings for a great side dish. The Festival Dumplings are perfect straight out the fryer however, they can be made ahead of time and can be warmed up or eaten cold.
The jerk marinade works well with loads of foods. We tried it with tempeh and even roasted sweet potatoes and they were great. We used leftover jerk tofu and coleslaw to make a Jamaican inspired sandwich for lunch the following day.
The marinade is meant to turn a dark colour due to the sugar content. Don’t worry if you feel it is blackening in the oven, this is just the brown sugar caramelising creating wonderful flavours. Halfway through the cooking process, baste the tofu with the extra marinade and allow them to take in the flavours of Jamaica.
Jamaican Jerk Tofu
Ingredients
- 400 g firm tofu
Marinade
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper or spicy red chilli pepper
- 4 spring onions
- 20 g ginger
- 4 cloves garlic
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 7 sprigs thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
Marinade
- Remove the seeds from the Scotch bonnet pepper and roughly chop. Its advised to wear gloves for this or make sure you thoroughly wash your hands after touching the chilli.
- Roughly chop the spring onions, ginger and garlic. Add them to a small food processor with the Scotch bonnet and the rest of the ingredients for the marinade. Blitz into a paste. If you don't have a small food processor you can use a hand blender or even a mortar and pestle.
- Cut the tofu into thin slabs around 1 cm thick.
- Place the tofu in a bowl and cover in the marinade. Place in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 180°C
- Place the slices of tofu on a baking tray and spoon over half the remaining marinade. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the marinade is starting to turn dark and sticky.
- Remove from the oven and turn over each piece and spoon over the remaining marinade.
- Place back in the oven for a further 20 minutes.
- Serve the tofu with Festival and Caribbean coleslaw.
Caribbean Coleslaw
Ingredients
- ½ savoy cabbage
- 1 large carrot
- 3 spring onions
- 1 red chilli pepper
- 1 medium ripe mango
- 20 g flaked almonds
- 5 g parsley chopped
Dressing
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Shred the cabbage and julienne the carrot and mango into thin strips. Thinly slice the spring onions. Remove the seeds from the chilli and thinly slice.
- Add the cabbage, carrot, mango and chilli to a bowl and add in the flaked almonds and the chopped parsley. Mix together well to evenly distribute everything.
- To make the dressing add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix well until the salt and sugar is dissolved.
- Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and mix well to coat everything evenly.
Jamaican Sweet Festival Dumplings
Ingredients
- 270 g all-purpose flour
- 120 g cornmeal (fine semolina)
- 3 g salt
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 10 g baking powder
- 30 g soft butter
- 200 ml plant-based milk We used Cashew milk
- 3 g ground nutmeg
- Oil for deep-frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
- Add the softened butter, milk and nutmeg. Bind everything together to make a workable dough. Leave to sit for 10 mins.
- Pre-heat oil for deep frying to a temperature of 180°C.
- Divide into 12 pieces then roll each piece in between the palm of your hands to make a rugby ball (American football) shape. Not too thin, approx 5cm in length. Once you have all 12 rolled out, deep fry in batches until golden brown, turning regularly (approx 7 mins) the dough should float during cooking.
- Remove from the oil and drain on a kitchen paper.
