Black Pepper Tofu |Cooking|

One recipe I wanted to share since long is the black pepper tofu. I made this quite a few times but never got a chance to click and share here. Honestly speaking I am not a fan of tofu. To me it is bland and the flavor is not very tempting and our good old Paneer is always a better choice in vegetarian recipes. Then I gave this recipe a try.

I came through this recipe in the net. After reading through the recipe, I thought why not give it a try? First time I followed the recipe and it was delish. You’ll never know that you are eating tofu if you are not a fan like me. The sauce was mouthwatering and I licked the plate clean. Next time I tweaked the recipe a bit, since it calls for a lot of butter. I reduced the amount of fat and spice in the recipe, but it did still taste great.

So here is my version of the recipe. You may add paneer or even mushroom if you do not have tofu handy. Black pepper tofu is spicy with all the black pepper powder and red chili but the spiciness blends in well with the sauces. It has a warm earthy flavor to it. One word – Delicious!

Tips:

Use a mortar and pestle to grind the black pepper. You may substitute shallots with medium size red onions. If you do not have sweet soya sauce, you may increase the amount of sugar in the recipe.

Recipe adapted from : Yotam Ottolenghi

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BLACK PEPPER TOFU

Black Pepper Tofu

YIELD: 4 Servings

Black pepper tofu is spicy with all the black pepper powder and red chili but the spiciness blends in well with the sauces. It has a warm earthy flavor to it. One word – Delicious!

INGREDIENTS

12 oz Tofu firm or extra firm
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup vegetable oil to deep fry
5 medium shallots thinly sliced
8 cloves garlic crushed
2 tablespoons ginger minced
5 medium fresh red chilies thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablepsoons oil for cooking
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons dark soya sauce
1 tablespoon sweet soya sauce
2-3 tablespoons black pepper coarsely ground
2-3 stalks green onions thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

Start with the tofu. Remove the tofu from the packet, drain and pat it dry with a paper towel. Cut into large cubes and toss them in some corn starch and shake off the excess. In a large wok, heat oil for deep frying. When the oil is hot add the tofu in batches and fry them till they are golden brown in color in both sides. Drain in a paper towel and set aside.
In another wok, at low heat add the butter and oil for cooking. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, slices of red chilies and sauté at low to medium heat for 10 minutes or until the ingredients have turned soft. Now add the sugar and the sauces and stir well. Next add the coarsely ground black pepper and mix well. Finally add the fried tofu to warm it up in the sauce. Switch off the heat.
Garnish with thinly sliced green onions. Serve hot with steamed white rice.