Salt & Pepper Tofu

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For salt and pepper tofu, I usually find cooks exclusively recommend firm tofu. I’ve tested tofu every which way in this recipe and they all work a treat, with slightly different results each time. See my guide and the photo on this page for an example an pick which tofu is best for you!

SILKEN: Super crispy exterior and melty interior. Creates unique shapes. Great with a squeeze of lemon

NORMAL: Classic exterior and pillowy interior. Most pronounced tofu flavour. 

FIRM: Hardest texture with chewy interior. Resembles a nugget.

BURMESE: Classic interior and soft interior. Close to normal tofu, but can be slightly grainy depending on how you prepared it. 

INGREDIENTS

1 block tofu (300g-500g)

½ cup cornflour

1 teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon salt

METHOD

1. Optional for all options but silken tofu: freeze your tofu overnight, and pop it in boiling water before using. This process expands the water pockets in the tofu, setting it up to absorb flavour even better and leaving a much denser final product.

If using regular or firm tofu, wrap it in a paper towel and set a heavy weight on top for 20 minutes to squeeze out extra moisture. Skip this step if using silken or burmese tofu.

2. Preheat a pan for shallow frying. Ideally, you want the oil to be deep enough for half of each tofu cube to be able to be immersed in the oil.

3. Cut tofu into cubes. If using silken tofu, just tear off hunks of it out as you need to instead of trying to cube it.

4. Mix cornflour, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Use chopsticks (or your fingers if you’re a grub) to dip each tofu cube into the seasoned cornflour. Coat all cubes on all sides. Place the tofu cubes in the oil with plenty of personal space for each one. Avoid allowing too much time between flouring the tofu and putting the cubes in the oil so that moisture doesn’t seep out and ruin the coating.

5. Fry, flipping around occasionally until crispy on all sides (5 - 10 minutes). Serve with dipping sauce.