Crispy tofu cakes with sweet chili sauce

These crispy tofu cakes were the result of some experimentation.  At dim sum today, I saw on the menu something called "salt & pepper pi-pa tofu" and I had no idea what it was (and we did not order it).  A web search revealed recipes for pi-pa tofu, but I decided to take this in a slightly different direction.

Ingredients
1 block of tofu, 14 oz. (I used medium-firm)
3.5 oz. (~100g) ground pork
2 stalks of green onions, chopped finely (about 1/3 cup)
shitake mushrooms, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 eggs
2 tsp. soy sauce
oil for frying
sweet chili sauce for dipping (recipe below)

Directions
1. Squeeze excess moisture from the tofu.  You could mash the tofu and then strain it.  You could use a cheesecloth or paper towel.  I just squeezed it with my hands.  About 1/2 cup of liquid came out.

2. Combine tofu, ground pork, green onions, mushrooms, soy sauce, and eggs.  I thought to add mushrooms after I took the first photo below.

3. Form into patties and shallow pan-fry until golden brown (about 3-5 minutes).  Drain on paper towels.

4. Serve with sweet chili sauce.  You could also make a dipping sauce using -- for example -- soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.

Sweet chili sauce

Ingredients
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. rice vinegar
1/2 c. water
2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (1 tsp. probably would have been enough)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced ginger

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for ~15 minutes.  The sauce will thicken slightly when it cools.  I took mine off the heat when I saw foamy bubbles.  It was not very thick at this point.  I didn't measure but I would say the liquid had reduced by about 1/3 to 1/2.