Easy Sambal Goreng (with an Air Fryer!)

How to make Easy Sambal Goreng, or spicy, savoury and creamy tofu tempeh stir fry – with an air fryer!

Sambal Goreng, also known as spicy tofu and tempeh stir fry. This is a Singapore Malay/Malaysian vegetable dish that even veggie-haters will love! THIS is an ultra easy version of Sambal Goreng, thanks to the use of the Air Fryer!

Sambal = Dried Chilli Paste

Goreng = Stir Fry

This is my most favourite Malay dish ever, but it does require a bit of effort. Before actually stir frying the sambal with the tofu and tempeh, you will need to fry the two ingredients up. This will firm up the tofu, and crisp and cook the tempeh through. I replicated this in an air fryer, and I was so happy that it came out just as well as if I deep fried it! I have an original recipe here (with frying), if that’s what you’re looking for!

Why you will LOVE this Easy Sambal Goreng?

• It gets you CRISPY tofu and tempeh with minimal effort!

• The paste uses MINIMAL ingredients, but full flavours!

• This is a VEGAN recipe, without discounting on flavours.

• It’s QUICK! This recipe gets you a completed dish in LESS than 30 minutes! While you’re air frying the tofu and tempeh, you can prep and blend the ingredients for the rempah.

What is Tempeh?

Tempeh is a fermented soybean cake that is a staple in Malay and Indonesian cooking. It’s a nutritious plant-based source of protein, and should be very easily found these days. If you can’t find this, simply omit! In fact, I usually just use firm tofu to make this dish. The tofu used here would be firm tofu.

How to Air Fry Tofu and Tempeh

To air fry the tofu and tempeh, they are best coated with oil prior. I also like to add a pinch of salt, but this is optional.

Simply cube the tofu and tempeh to similar sizes. Drizzle on oil and salt, and gently coat the tofu so it doesn’t break. Alternatively, you can spray oil directly on the tofu.

Pop it in a preheated air fryer, and cook for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius, or 350 degrees Fahrenheit – or until the tofu firms and crisps up.

Halfway through, take the air fryer basket out and shake it, before popping it back in to finish cooking. This helps the tofu and tempeh to not stick to the tray, while helping it to bake evenly.

If your air fryer is as small as mine, you will most likely need to do this in batches. After the tofu, repeat the same with the tempeh.

The Easy Sambal Goreng Paste

The spice base paste is the most important ingredient in Sambal Goreng! Luckily it’s so easy to make – simply add everything in a blender and blitz.

The ingredients for the spicy base paste is also minimal:

• Dried Chillies: The dried chillies require some soaking before to rehydrate so that it blends easier. Pour hot water over the dried chillies, and let it soak for about 5 minutes, or until it softens and plumps up. If you have dried chilli paste, use 2 tablespoons in this recipe.

• Onion

• Garlic

• Ginger

How to Serve Sambal Goreng

This is best served with rice! It’s savoury, spicy and creamy – the perfect accompaniment to rice.

If you want to have some levelled rice, try my Nasi Minyak or easy Butter Ghee Rice!

More Recipes Like This:

• Beef Rendang
• Ayam Masak Merah
• Air Fryer Crispy Salt and Pepper Chicken

Easy Sambal Goreng (with an Air Fryer!)

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes

Servings

2-3

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• Air Fry:

• 100g Tempeh

• 150g or 1 block of Firm Tofu

• 1 tsp Vegetable Oil

• 1 tsp Salt

• Other Ingredients:

• 70g Long Beans or French Beans

• 1 Red Chilli, sliced

• 1 tsp Salt, or to taste

• 1 tsp Sugar, or to taste

• 1 tsp Tamarind Paste

• 1 tbsp Coconut Cream

• Blended Base Paste:

• 10g Dried Chillies, rehydrated (or 1 tbsp of dried chilli paste)

• 1 medium Onion

• 3 cloves of Garlic

• 1/2 inch Ginger

• 1/4 cup Water, for easier blending

Directions

• Cut tofu and tempeh into cubes. Place in a bowl and add cooking oil and salt. Gently toss to coat.
• Preheat air fryer at 180°C/356°F for 5 minutes. Add tofu and tempeh to air fryer basket and spread evenly. Cook in the air fryer at 180°C/356°F for 15 minutes, taking it out halfway to shake the basket for even cooking. Cook in batches if needed, do not crowd the basket or overlap the tofu and tempeh.
• Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the paste in a blender and blitz to a fine paste.
• Add oil to a pan, and over low to medium heat, add the blended base paste.
• Continuously stir fry until the paste dries down slightly and deepens in colour. See my post on “how to properly cook dried chilli paste”.
• Toss in the air fried tofu and tempeh, long beans, red chilli and season with salt, sugar, tamarind paste and coconut cream. Stir to combine.
• Once everything is coated evenly, sambal goreng is done!

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