SALT AND PEPPER TOFU | Recipe by Mary's Test Kitchen
Hello friends and not-yet-friends,
Welcome back to Mary's Test Kitchen.
Today we're doing a recipe request for Saltand Pepper Tofu.
More than just salt and pepper and tofu, thiscrispy vegetarian dish is often found at Chinese
and Vietnamese restaurants, with red chillies,fragrant garlic and extra spices.
We start with a block of extra firm tofu.
Firm tofu will work too.
Medium firm is nice for variety but for it'sfor more advanced tofu-lovers, in my opinion.
And let's be real, all my medium firm tofuis reserved for making the BEST Vegan Fried
Chicken.
And you can use the flavours in this recipeto make Salt and Pepper Vegan Chicken.
But back to the job at hand.
I'm cutting up the tofu into bite sized cubes.
I've also patted this tofu block dry beforehand.
To give our crispy-tofu-to-be a headstart,set the cubes out on a clean lint-free kitchen
towel.
Press them gently to squeeze out excess waterbut with a light touch so the tofu doesn't
crumble.
Then let those sit while we get the rest ofour ingredients ready.
Remember, the full recipe with ingredientamounts is on marystestkitchen.com.
The link in the description box.
You'll want to slice up a couple stalks ofscallion.
Maybe more if your green onions are skinnierthan mine.
Keep the white and light green parts separatefrom the darker green parts.
The lighter parts are going to get cookedwhile the darker green is going to finish
the dish fresh.
Crush some garlic and mince it.
You want about two tablespoons of minced garlic.
Or I do anyway.
This gets pretty darn garlicky.
But not all salt and pepper tofu is done thisway and you can customize it to how you like
it.
Or what you're used to.
My final aromatic is red chillies.
Take the seeds out if you don't want to burnyour mouth off.
Also, wash your hands with soap really wellafter you're done with touching the chillies.
The oil in the chillies can burn your skinif you leave it too long, plus if you accidentally
touch your eyes, you'll curse me forever.
Finally, get the spice mix together.
With salt.
Sugar.
White pepper which I like better than blackpepper for this dish but you do you.
And a pinch of Chinese 5 spice powder.
Mix that all together and now we're readyfor the stove.
There are many ways to make crispy tofu.
You can bake it, like in my spicy peanut tofurecipe.
You could deep fry which is what they do inthe restaurants and it tastes great.
But today, we'll do an in between method.
With hot oil over medium-high heat in a well-seasonediron wok so it's nonstick.
When the oil is hot, add the tofu.
It'll sputter and pop a bit.
Just be brave.
And wear long sleeves maybe.
Some recipes call for cornstarch on the tofufirst.
You can certainly do that.
Add two teaspoons of cornstarch to a big container,add the tofu, pop a lid on and gently roll
it around to get it coated evenly.
Then you would continue just like I'm doinghere.
The difference won't be huge, a slightly thickercrust of crispiness.
That crust is nice when you have a sauce thatwill go on later like in my General Tso's
recipe or maybe my vegan honey garlic sesamesauce.
That would be nice.
But for salt and pepper tofu, there is nowet sauce so it's not necessary.
After your tofu is nicely browned on all sides,turn off the heat and transfer the tofu to
a rack.
The rack will allow air circulation so theydon't just steam on a plate and lose some
of their crunchy texture.
Get back to that pan or wok with the scallionwhites and light green parts.
Stir-fry about 30 seconds to a minute, justuntil the scallions are getting fragrant.
Then add your garlic.
Add a bit of oil if anything's sticking.
Then the red chilies.
I just used one chili but two is better sothe written recipe will reflect that.
Stir fry until the garlic is just turninggolden.
Just a minute or two.
The green onion might char here and therewhich is what I'm going for.
Yours might not depending on your pan.
Don't worry, it'll still taste good.
Turn off the heat and add the tofu back in.
Toss a bit.
Then sprinkle over the salt and pepper mix.
Now you'll want to toss really well so everythinggets as evenly coated as possible.
And there you have it.
Add the fresh green onion parts and this saltand pepper tofu is ready to eat!
It's really salty so have some drinks ready.
Or you have some steamed rice with this.
That would be so good.
But I couldn't help myself, I just dove in.
I hope you dive right into this easy tofurecipe too.
And give this video a thumbs up if you likedit.
Thank you so much for watching, my friends.
If you have a recipe request, be sure to leaveit in the comments with the hashtag #reciperequest
so I can find it easily later.
As always, leave your questions as well andI'll do my best to answer.
Bye for now!
Salt and Pepper Tofu is more than just salt and pepper and tofu. It's a simple but addictive Chinese restaurant vegetarian dish with red chillies, fragrant garlic and spices. This recipe was a #reciperequest fulfilled! If you have a request, please leave it in the comments below with #reciperequest so I can find it later. SALT AND PEPPER TOFU (printable recipe): http://www.marystestkitchen.com/salt-and-pepper-tofu/ ---RELATED LINKS--- The BEST Vegan Fried 'Chicken': https://goo.gl/Hnf9GZ Vegan General Tso's 'Chicken': https://goo.gl/3PYyBR Baked Spicy Peanut Tofu: https://goo.gl/SWf4D9 Vegan 'Honey' Garlic Sesame Sauce: https://goo.gl/Tm4phB -----SHOP MY FAVES*----- AUDIBLE 30 DAY TRIAL + 2 FREE BOOKS: https://goo.gl/wwgwEQ My recommendation: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN: https://amzn.to/2LMfogB MORE FAVES: https://amzn.to/2L7ePgb -----KEEP IN TOUCH----- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/marystestktchn/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/marystestkitchen Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marystestktchn Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marystestkitchen Website: http://www.marystestkitchen.com *Some links are affiliate links. This means I'll earn a small commission if you make a purchase through the link at no extra cost to you. This helps me buy supplies to make more videos so thank you!