Crispy Chinese Salt & Pepper Tofu

I love tofu, whether it's steam, braised, stewed, in soup, stuff with fillings, fried or even fermented. Every now and then when I shop in the Asian shop, I just can't resist to buy a block of tofu; firm for frying / braising; soft for sukiyaki. Anyway, I bought one of this tetra pack tofu block for quite some time and finally find a new recipe to try it out: crispy chinese salt & pepper tofu.

Here's the recipe to share: Crispy Chinese Salt and Pepper Tofu

Serves 4 (Cooking time: 40 minutes)

For the tofu:
1 lb firm tofu, drained
1 tablespoons dry sherry or rice wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons corn starch
3-4 tablespoons of peanut oil for frying

For the stir-fry:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 big clove of garlic, finely minced
¼ inch cube ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon or to taste red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Slice tofu into ½ thick slices and layer between sheets of kitchen towels. Lay on a cutting board and weigh it down with any heavy items on top to drain the water for about 20 minutes. When ready, gently separate tofu from towels and cut into ½ inch cubes.

In a medium bowl combine rice wine and soy sauce. Add cubed tofu and toss to combine. Set tofu aside for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Careful not to break the tofu cubes.

When ready to fry tofu, heat peanut oil over medium-high in a large, heavy skillet or wok. Sift cornstarch into a shallow bowl. Drain tofu from marinade, shake off any excess liquid and roll tofu into cornstarch. Lower tofu into oil and fry for 3-4 minutes each side until all sides are golden coloured. I use a deep fryer, so much easier. Remove goldened tofu from pan and placed on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Pour 1 tablespoon peanut oil into skillet and heat to medium high. Add ginger & garlic, stirring quickly until sizzling and fragrant. Add red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt and tofu and fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Toss in the spring onion and quick stir for another 30 seconds, remove tofu dish from heat, and move to a serving platter.

If you're like me where you find eating tofu in Chinese restaurants in non-Asian countries disappointing, then you should definitely try this dish out at home. Most works lies on preparing the tofu but it's well worth the effort. And if you are lucky enough to have nice tofu dish vastly available to you, I'd still recommend you to try this out, I guarantee you there's no regret (probably some fuss on tofu preparation if you're new to cooking). 

All in all, a recipe that's worth keeping. I'll definitely do this again!