Salt & Pepper Tofu

Adapted from: Uyen Luu

Serves: 2-4

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

300 g (10.5 oz) medium firm tofu

70 g (1/2 cup) cornflour or potato starch

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp caster sugar (super fine)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

3 tbsp vegetable oil or high-smoke point cooking oil

Uyen Luu produces beautifully fresh and simple Vietnamese dishes. Cooking tofu has not been one of my strong suits. But when I saw this recipe, I thought "I love salt & pepper fried xyz" and overcame my fear of, again, cooking bad tofu. I have no regrets.

Guess what? This is so entirely incredible, you'll feel as impressed at yourself as I did (hopefully)! If you have an air fryer, any leftovers reheat like new. These tofu bites are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and the pepper flavour is the star, making the slight kick complement the soft crunch of a fried bite. 

It's taken over two years for this recipe to make it to the blog. But fear not--it's because I was too busy cooking from Uyen Luu, including these salt & pepper tofu a few more times. 

Ingredients:
300 g (10.5 oz) medium firm tofu

70 g (1/2 cup) cornflour or potato starch

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp caster sugar (super fine)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

3 tbsp vegetable oil or high-smoke point cooking oil

Directions:

1. Pat the tofu dry and cut it into bite-sized cubes or other desired shape. 

2. In a medium or large shallow bowl, mix the dry ingredients (cornflour, salt, ginger, cayenne, sugar, baking powder, black pepper). 

3. Toss the tofu in the dry ingredients until every piece of tofu is coated well. 

4. Heat the oil in a skillet to medium heat. 

5. Carefully add the coated tofu and fry on each side until golden and crispy. 

6. Plate the tofu with rice, greens, and dipping sauce of choice.