Tamal Ray’s recipe for crisp fried tofu and tempura spring onions with spicy barbecue sauce

This vegetarian recipe takes its influence from Korean fried chicken, and the resulting sticky, sweet, crisp dish will more than satisfy any fast-food cravings

This is a recipe for Saturday nights, when you need something fried, crisp and dripping in delicious, hot, sticky-sweet sauce. The inspiration came from our incredible local Korean fried chicken shop, though I’ve bowed to my boyfriend's challenge to cut down on meat and produced a recipe that vegetarians can enjoy. The use of vodka in the batter (a tip I picked up from J Kenji López-Alt) might strike you as strange, but it's crucial to the final texture: the alcohol rapidly boils away, leaving the crispest batter you’ve ever had.

Prep 10 minCook 20 minServes 2

I’m quite happy to have this as a meal on its own, but if you’d prefer some extra carbs, the rich sauce goes well with plain white rice, noodles and even chips.

For the sauce2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped40g gochujang50g dark soy sauce150g maple syrup50g cider vinegar

For the batter75g plain flour75g corn flour ¼ tsp table salt1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda2 medium eggs150 ml vodka

For frying1 x 280g block firm tofu1 bunch spring onions, plus 1 spring onion extra, trimmed and thinly sliced, to garnish600ml vegetable oil

To serve2 mild red chillies, stalks and seeds discarded, flesh finely slicedPlain white rice or noodles

To make the sauce, put the garlic, gochujang, soy, maple syrup and cider vinegar in a saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, on a low-medium heat for about eight minutes – the sauce will bubble up, reduce, then thicken. Leave to cool while you get on with the frying.

Cut the tofu into rectangular chunks roughly 1cm thick and 2cm tall and wide. Top and tail the spring onions, then chop in half widthways to give batons roughly 12cm long.

Put the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan on a medium heat until it reaches 180C on a kitchen thermometer. Meanwhile, start the batter. Sift the flours, salt and bicarb into a large bowl, and whisk the eggs and vodka in a second bowl. Pour the eggs into the flour mix, and use a fork to mix them in quickly, until just combined.

Drench a few chunks of tofu in the batter, shake off any excess, then carefully lower into the hot oil. Use a fork to separate any pieces that stick together, and use tongs to give them an occasional turn so they cook evenly. After about three minutes, when the tofu is well browned all over, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a wire rack or plate lined with kitchen paper, then repeat first with the remaining tofu and then finally with the onions, dipping them in batter, too – the latter will cook much more quickly, so give them about a minute on each side. When you’re frying the last batch of onions, gently reheat the sauce.

Arrange the fried tofu and onions on a large platter, pour over the sauce, sprinkle over the sliced chillies and reserved onion, and serve with rice or noodles.