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Hóng Kitchen

Salt & Pepper Tofu

Chinese · Easy · Serves 4

Salt & Pepper Tofu
Salt & Pepper Tofu
The salt-and-pepper canon's soft cousin and the vegetarian's standing answer: cubes of firm tofu in a crisp starch coat, fried to their golden shell and tossed at the wok with the garlic-chilli-scallion's cling — the same doctrine the shrimp record taught, run at the tofu's gentle register. The tofu's technique is the dry coat and the double-fry (the shell must survive the soft interior's moisture), and the finish's aromatics the same.

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The tofu and its coat

The finish — the wok's aromatics

The fry

- The tofu pressed and patted dry — the water's departure the coat's adhesion and the shell's survival. - The oil's thermometer discipline and the wok's aromatics standing by.
Step 1. The double fry — the fish master's law: the first at 180 °C (3 minutes, the shell's set and the pale gold), the second at 190 °C (90 seconds, the blister and the shatter). Checkpoint — the tofu's shells are deep gold and crisp at the rack's tap, the interiors still soft and warm — the shell's architecture holding its cargo.
Step 2. The wok's finish — the garlic's golden and the toss. The oil at the medium-high, the garlic's slivers fried 30–45 seconds to their crisp gold, the chillies through, and the fried tofu tossed with the salt, the fresh-ground pepper, and the scallion whites — 3 or 4 tosses to the aromatics' cling, and the greens' fold. Checkpoint — the eating test: the shell's first shatter, the tofu's soft cloud within, and the garlic-pepper's cling — the salt-and-pepper doctrine's gentlest expression, and the vegetarian table's standing plate. Chef’s Note — the pressing is the tofu's whole preparation and its water's departure the shell's own insurance: the firm tofu's block carries its own weight's proportion in water, and an unpressed tofu's cubes shed it into the fry's oil (the shell's wash-away) and the interior's steam (the shell's crack). The 30-minute weight (a board and a tin, the kitchen's own press) drives the surface's moisture out before the coat's toss, and the pressed cube's starch shell adheres and survives — the doctrine's first law (the dry surface) at its most binding.
Salt & Pepper Tofu

Salt & Pepper Tofu

Prep: 15 minutes · Cook: 15 minutes · Total: About 35 minutes · Serves 4

Ingredients

The tofu and its coat

  • 600 g firm tofu, pressed 30 minutes (a weight on the board), cut to 3 cm cubes
  • 80 g cornstarch, 1 tsp (5 g) salt, ½ tsp (1 g) five-spice (the optional depth)

The finish — the wok's aromatics

  • 3 tbsp (45 ml) of the frying oil
  • 5 cloves garlic, sliced thin (20 g)
  • 2 whole red chillies, sliced
  • 3 scallions, whites and greens separated
  • 1 tsp (5 g) salt, 1 tsp (3 g) white pepper, fresh-ground

The fry

  • 1.5 litres neutral oil at 180 °C, then 190 °C for the second

Instructions

  1. The double fry — the fish master's law: the first at 180 °C (3 minutes, the shell's set and the pale gold), the second at 190 °C (90 seconds, the blister and the shatter). Checkpoint — the tofu's shells are deep gold and crisp at the rack's tap, the interiors still soft and warm — the shell's architecture holding its cargo.
  2. The wok's finish — the garlic's golden and the toss. The oil at the medium-high, the garlic's slivers fried 30–45 seconds to their crisp gold, the chillies through, and the fried tofu tossed with the salt, the fresh-ground pepper, and the scallion whites — 3 or 4 tosses to the aromatics' cling, and the greens' fold. Checkpoint — the eating test: the shell's first shatter, the tofu's soft cloud within, and the garlic-pepper's cling — the salt-and-pepper doctrine's gentlest expression, and the vegetarian table's standing plate.

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The coated, un-fried tofu holds 30 minutes; the fried tofu re-crisps 4 minutes at 200 °C. The salt-and-pepper aubergine and the fish fillet's version run the same doctrine. - The canon's seat: the salt-and-pepper doctrine's soft master — the pressed tofu's dry coat and the shell's survival — at the vegetarian table's standing plate.