Crispy salt and pepper tofu fried to perfection delivering a crunchy outer layer with a silky soft middle. Served with a homemade sweet chilli jam, this Asian tofu side dish will make everyone happy.
In a medium sized pot, add tomatoes, chopped chillies, minced garlic, sugar, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.
Stir and cook over medium-low heat until the mixture reduces to a thick sauce.
Remove from heat and let the sweet chilli jam cool down.
Salt and Pepper Tofu
Cut tofu into small bite sized cubes. Pat dry tofu with a paper towel.
Add corn flour, rice flour, salt, pepper, sugar, and Chinese five spice powder together in a mixing bowl.
Add tofu in a dry mixture and thoroughly coat the tofu.
Heat half the oil in a large fry pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add a few tofu pieces and fry until crispy and golden brown on all sides.
Remove crispy fried tofu cubes and set aside on a paper towel.
Repeat the frying process until all coated tofu is cooked. Replenish the oil as required.
Place all crispy tofu on a serving plate.
Sprinkle it with extra salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with sweet chilli jam.
Notes
Use a firm or regular tofu for this recipe, or try egg tofu.
If you don’t have Chinese five spice powder, you can substitute it with crushed Szechuan peppercorns or a pinch of ginger powder.
Any mild vinegar like apple cider vinegar can replace rice wine vinegar.
You can serve salt and pepper tofu without the sweet chilli jam. The classic way to serve is to toss salt and pepper tofu in a garlic, onion and chilli stir fry at the end.
Adjust the heat of sweet chilli jam to your liking. Use hotter chillies like bird’s eye chillies if you prefer more heat.