Adam Liaw may have come a long way since his introduction to TV cooking in 2010, but he’s maintained a passion for creating delicious food from humble ingredients. It’s one of the reasons we’re tuning into his new show The Cook Up, which features guests ranging from journalists Benjamin Law and Marc Fennell to chef Danielle Alvarez and restaurateur Palisa Anderson.
At the centre of each show is an easy recipe for people to recreate at home – like these super speedy, no-fuss tofu doughnuts. It’s a dish Liaw says was popular with the show’s crew.
“Of all the recipes we’ve ever made on The Cook Up, this has been the favourite of the entire crew. It is so incredibly quick and easy I don’t know if I’ll ever make doughnuts another way again,” he says.
They’re surprisingly light and airy. And though tofu is the hero in this dish, you’d never know it was a key ingredient. Liaw tells Broadsheet he thinks people should cook with it more often. “I use it to replace things like breadcrumbs and eggs in hamburgers, and here we use it to replace just about everything in our doughnut,” he says.
His tip is to look closely at the liquidity of the tofu you’re using. “The only thing you have to watch out for is that different brands of tofu will have different liquid contents, so the amount of flour you add will vary,” he says. “The softer your batter, the fluffier your doughnuts will be.”
Adam Liaw’s tofu doughnuts
Serves 4
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (optional)
Ingredients:
300g silken tofu
180g plain flour
14g baking powder
60g caster sugar
Canola oil, for deep frying
Icing or cinnamon sugar
Method:
Place the tofu into a medium mixing bowl and squash with a spatula, pressing against the sides of the bowl until smooth (or press it through a sieve to speed up the process). Sift in the flour, baking powder and caster sugar, and mix to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (this stage is optional).
Fill a large saucepan with oil to around the midway point and heat to approximately 170°C. Fry the batter in spoonfuls for about 4 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Dust generously with icing sugar or cinnamon sugar and serve.
The Cook Up With Adam Liaw airs weeknights on SBS Food at 7pm or anytime via SBS On Demand.
Looking for more cooking inspiration? See Broadsheet’s recipe hub.