Servings: 4
Tofu’s proponents have tried to get us to see all the ways to improve its texture—freezing or pressing or boiling to rid it of spare water, broiling or roasting to crisp it up. These are all effective at making tofu friendlier to cook with, but nothing is as guaranteed to seduce a skeptic as dredging tofu in cornstarch and pan-frying it to a shiny crisp, while the inner bits go soft and custardy. The just-fried nubs are almost too crunchy to eat, which is why it’s a good idea to add them to a pan of shallots, chiles, ginger, and garlic that have stewed in butter and soy and heaps of black pepper. In the sauce, the fried cubes will relax just enough, but maintain all the integrity you’ve fried into them.
This recipe is excerpted from Food52 Genius Recipes. Read our review.
Yes, you can ease back on the butter a little. And you can use whatever kind of soy sauce you have, if you adjust the saltiness to taste (and the sweetness, if you need to make up for not having kecap manis, a.k.a. sweet soy).Reprinted with permission from Food52 Genius Recipes by Kristen Miglore, copyright © 2015. Recipe courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
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Delicious! I had to omit the chile peppers, so I went heavy on the black pepper, ginger, and garlic. I used the ordinary soy sauce that I had on hand. It's hard to imagine that it might have been even better without my adaptations.
Decadent and delicious. My son and I both adored it served with some sauteed veggies and brown rice.
It seemed like a lot of pepper, but this was the tastiest tofu I've ever eaten! Even my carnivores gobbled it up!
Huge hit at my dinner party. I did however, adjust the butter, chili and pepper amounts downward to taste. Also, I just used the soy sauce I had on hand. The key really is the pan frying the tofu covered in cornstarch. As the author notes - don't crowd the pan and all will be well!
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