Salt and Pepper Tofu
Salt and pepper tofu is a simple Chinese dish that is full of flavour thanks to the fiery salt and pepper seasoning. Get the recipe below.
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A simple Chinese dish
I love Chinese food. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time both in mainland China and Hong Kong to visit friends and travel for work. I’ve tried a whole range of authentic dishes that I love to try and recreate at home. But, I also love westernised Chinese food – take away any one? I like to think there’s room for both in the world.
There are different versions of this dish (for example from Taiwan, Sichuan province and Hong Kong). The version I’m sharing incorporates elements of all three.
But, whichever version you try it’s a dish that is full of flavour making it the star of any meal. It’s also simple to make so it is the perfect dish to prepare yourself and avoid the costs associated with ordering in.
Follow my recipe and you can have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.
How to make Salt and Pepper Tofu
Salt and pepper tofu is, in short, tofu dredged in a salt and pepper flavoured seasoning then fried. The result is a crispy square of tofu that’s packed full of flavour
Salt and pepper seasoning
The seasoning for our tofu contains 4 key ingredients: (1) white peppercorns; (2) black peppercorns (3) Sichuan peppercorns; and (4) salt.
Each of the different types of peppercorn adds a slightly different layer of heat. White peppercorns have a more complex flavour profile than black peppercorns and the Sichuan peppercorns bring extra heat. These get blitzed together in a spice grinder or blender along with the salt until its in powder form.
Coating the tofu
Before covering the tofu with the salt and pepper seasoning it needs combining with cornflour or a similar starch.
In my opinion cornflour is the best to coat the tofu in but unfortunately my husband can’t eat corn so we use potato starch instead. You could also substitute it for tapioca starch.
Once you’ve combined together the seasoning and the cornflour you simply toss the tofu in the mix and it’s ready to fry.
Frying the tofu
You can deep fry the tofu if you have a deep fat fryer but as most home cooks don’t I’ve given the directions for shallow frying in a large saucepan.
The key to frying tofu and making sure you get crisp edges all around is to use the clock method. Place your tofu cubes into the oil starting at 12 o clock and working your way round. Once you’ve done one ring around the outside of your pan work your way in.
By doing this you’ll know which piece of tofu should be flipped over first. Just then follow the clock and you’ll have each piece of tofu perfectly fried on each side!
The recipe
Salt and Pepper Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 red pepper
- 400 g tofu firm or extra firm
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 teaspoon white pepper
- 0.5 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 0.5 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 5 tbsp cornflour or potato starch or tapioca starch
- 4 spring onions
- coriander
Instructions
- Cut the red pepper into strips.
- Add a little vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed frying pan and heat on high.
- Once the oil is hot add the red pepper to the pan and stir fry for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Remove from the pan and place to one side.
- Place the spices into a spice grinder or blender and blitz until a powder.
- Mix together the spices and cornflour.
- Cut the tofu into cubes then toss in the cornflour/spice mix.
- Add a little more vegetable oil to your frying pan and again place over a high heat.
- Place the tofu squares into the pan and fry for 5 – 8 minutes or until crispy.
- Flip them over and fry for another 5 – 8 minutes or until the second side is also crispy.
- Add the red peppers back into the pan and toss through until hot again.
- Serve with thinly sliced spring onions and a scattering of coriander leaves.
Nutrition
More Chinese inspired recipes
For the full range of Chinese inspired recipes on the blog check out my recipe collection.