Salt and pepper tofu is deep-fried beancurds stir-fried with onions, Chinese five-spice, pepper and salt. Here's our recipe for recreating this crispy goodness using an air fryer, oven, or shallow frying in a pan at home
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Salt and Pepper Tofu Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients that you will need for your salt and pepper tofu.
To brine the beancurd:
- firm beancurd
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt
- sugar
- warm water
For the seasoning:
- salt
- ground black pepper
- Chinese five spice
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch
For the rest of the stir fry:
- vegetable oil
- garlic (roughly chopped)
- red bell pepper, chopped
- green bell pepper, chopped
- onion, sliced
- salt and black pepper
- Chinese five spice
- spring onions green part only (optional, for garnishing)
Chinese five spice is an essential ingredient in most Chinese takeaway salt and pepper dishes. Cornstarch powder coats beancurd blocks when frying and gives them a crispy texture.
It's also a good idea to buy chopped garlic and ginger to save time on cooking prep.
Tofu
You'll want to use firm or extra firm beancurd in our salt and pepper tofu recipe. Essentially, the firmer, the nicer, as you'll get more of a bite to it. It is less porous and easier to pan or deep fry.
You should choose your beancurd carefully. Any discolouration or sour odour means the beancurd has been on the shelf too long. Shelf-stable cartons have longer shelf lives. However, as they're made with genetically modified soybeans, they have less flavour.
While there's no fixed shape for cooking, it's best to cut the beancurd block into standard rectangular shapes. For our recipe, we usually aim to cut into ½-inch-sided cubes.
To let your beancurd soak up the seasoning, brine your bean curd. That means slicing the beancurd into rectangles and soaking them in our brine mixture for 1-2 hours before cooking them. This quick brine infuses a layer of flavour into the otherwise tasteless beancurds.
Salt and Pepper Tofu Sauce
The most popular sauce for salt and pepper tofu is garlic soy-sesame sauce. You can also add chilli powder if you want a tinge of spice.
Below ingredients are what you will need to make the sauce:
- One minced garlic clove
- 1 ½ tablespoons of sesame oil
- Two tablespoons of soy sauce
- One tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds.
Just mix all of the ingredients in a sauce plate and you're good to go. Sometimes, to add a bit more of a toasted garlic flavour, we would fry the garlic in a pan for 30 seconds or until fragrant, then mix it with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Salt and Pepper Tofu Recipe (Chinese Takeaway)
Ingredients
- 400 g firm tofu
- 4 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 clove garlic chopped
- ½ red pepper chopped
- ½ green pepper chopped
- ½ onion small
- ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice
- 2 spring onion green part only, optional
For the brine:
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 300 ml warm water
Salt and pepper tofu seasoning:
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
Cooking Instructions
- Slice the tofu into cubes (with about 1.5 cm or ½ inch sides). Place them in a pot or large bowl. Then, mix and stir garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, and warm water in a separate bowl to make the brine. Pour the brine over the beancurd cubes, making sure they are fully submerged. Let the beancurd marinate in the mixture for 1-2 hours. Then, drain the brine liquid from the beancurd completely.
- Mix the salt, ground black pepper, Chinese five spice, all purpose flour and cornstarch in a bowl until they are well combined.
- Pour half of the mixture to a tray and then gently place the drained cubes on to them. Sprinkle the rest over the beancurd to coat. Then, use chopsticks or tongs to gently turn the tofu cubes around to ensure each side of the cubes are coated with the flour mixture.
- Heat the cooking oil in your pan or wok over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, gently place the cubes on to the pan or wok and allow each side of the cubes to cook for 2 minutes. Use chopsticks or tongs to carefully flip the beancurd around to fry each side until they are all golden. Once done, remove the fried tofu from the pan or wok, and place them on a serving plate.
- Using the same wok or pan, add the chopped garlic and sliced onions. Fry for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Then, add in the chopped red and green bell peppers and stir fry for 2 minutes or until cooked. Then, season the vegetables with salt, black pepper and Chinese five spice and continue stir frying for another 1 minute until well incorporated.
- Top the tofu cubes with the stir fry vegetables, and carefully mix them in the serving plate, making sure not to pierce through or break any beancurd.
Recipe Notes
- Use firm or extra firm beancurd when possible. Beancurd is generally soft and breaks very easily. Be gentle and careful when you are flipping them around as well. As you fry more sides of the tofu, it will be easier to handle them as they get a crispier crust.
- The amount of cornstarch we use is just enough to coat each side of the beancurd. However, some beancurd hold of more moisture and may require a bit more cornstarch and all purpose flour. Adjust and increase accordingly.
- As we want to fry 6 sides of all the tofu cubes until they are golden and crispy, our recipe requires a bit more oil than other stir-fry dishes. So, don't skimp on the oil. Otherwise, the beancurd will not turn out as crispy.
Nutrition
Calories have been calculated using an online calculator. Nutritional information offered on Honest Food Talks is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimate.
Cooking Tips
If you are ready to create your salt and pepper tofu dish, here are some tips for you to take note of.
Using Soft Beancurd
If you prefer your beancurd to taste soft and silky inside, you can use soft beancurd instead of firm. Make sure to gently flip and fry the soft beancurd as it can break easily at this stage. Take your time at each step when you're using soft beancurd.
Adding Spice
Add pepper flakes to the cornstarch batter for a spicy version of the dish. You can also add chilli oil to your garlic sesame sauce as a dip.
Instead of bell peppers, you can also opt to substitute them with red and green chilli peppers instead for a spicier kick. We interchange them from time to time, depending on what we feel like having.
Reducing Moisture
Beancurd can get very moist, so to dry the cubes of curdled goodness before you cook, use paper towels and place the pieces on them. This will release some of the water that the tofu has absorbed. You can also sandwich it between two plates and let it sit for a while.
Why Should You Blanche Beancurd
Before you cook your beancurd, be sure to soak it in a brine. You can also boil it in hot water before dropping it into cold water. This is a cooking method known as blanching and helps to bring out the best texture and flavour of your salt and pepper tofu.
Dipping Sauce
Last but not least, you can savour this fakeaway with garlic and sesame soy dip. Stir fry garlic and sesame soy together to make a worthy sauce for your beancurd.
Air Fryer Salt and Pepper Tofu
While we see that Chinese restaurants usually deep fry this dish as a side menu order, you can also use an air fryer. Since the air fryer heats the food by using surrounding air rather than oil, you'll reduce the calories of your dish.
To air fry your bean curd, preheat your air fryer to 200 degrees celsius (400°F) for 3 minutes. Then air-fry the beancurd for 25-30 minutes, making sure to flip at the half way mark. Bring it out to turn it over before air frying until thoroughly crispy and golden.
Oven Baked Salt and Pepper Tofu
If you want to make a healthier version of salt and pepper tofu, you can choose to bake it in an oven. The benefit is that baking does not add any additional calories and fats to the foods you cook.
You will need cornstarch to make the dish extra crispy. After you’ve coated the cubes of bean curd in cornstarch:
- Bake the battered beancurd cubes at 200 degrees Celsius (400°F f) for 15 minutes.
- Remove it from the oven and flip each cube over.
- Return it to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.
Deep-frying salt and pepper tofu
If you're deep-frying your salt and pepper tofu, here are some key things to remember. After each batch, you’ll need to check that the oil temperature is between 165-175°C (330-350°F). The oil temperature will drop as more battered cubes are added. Make sure to use a neutral-flavoured oil that’s enough to submerge each cube.
How To Store
It is best to consume this dish fresh, but keep it in the fridge if you have to store it. It will stay fresh for about four to five days. Just make sure to separate your sauce from your stir fry beancurd cubes, and you use a covered container.
Storing the beancurd with the sauce makes it too wet and less crispy.
What To Serve With It
You can serve salt and pepper tofu with white rice or mee hoon.
The dish pairs well with rice, as you can drizzle the leftover sauce into your bowl of rice, so it soaks it all up. Meehoon or bee hoon, or rice vermicelli also works well. Else, you can always eat it alone as a snack.
Calories
Our recipe makes a relatively a low-calorie dish, with 135 calories for a block of beancurd that weighs around 150 grams. If you order it, salt and pepper tofu takeaway calories can be much higher as more oil and cornstarch is used.
We hope you enjoyed this classic Chinese fakeaway recipe! This dish is easy to cook, and it is a perfect pairing for any main dish. If you like more of these Asian recipes, follow us on Instagram @Honestfoodtalks for more.Looking for another type of Chinese takeaway dish? Check out our healthy salt and pepper chicken or salt and pepper chips recipe.
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