Black Pepper Tofu with Crisp Shallots
Coarsely cracked pepper is the whole dish here, not a seasoning at the end. Crisp the tofu hard, build a dark sticky sauce around it, and pile on more fried shallots than feels sensible.
- Prep 15 min
- Cook 25 min
- Total 40 min
- Serves 4
- Vegan
Method
Step 1. Press the tofu between two plates with a weight on top for 20 minutes, then pat it dry. Wet tofu will not crisp, it will steam.
Step 2. Toss the cubes in the cornflour until every face is dusted. Shake off the excess in a sieve.
Step 3. Crack the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar or under the base of a heavy pan. You want gravel, not powder — the texture is half the dish. Mix the cracked pepper with the rest of the sauce ingredients and set the bowl by the hob.
Step 4. Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the tofu in two batches, 3 to 4 minutes a side, turning only when each face has released itself from the pan. Lift onto kitchen paper.
Step 5. Add the remaining oil and the shallots to the same pan. Fry for 8 minutes, stirring often, until deep gold and crisp at the edges. Scoop half of them out onto paper — those are for the top.
Step 6. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies to the shallots left in the pan. Cook for two minutes until fragrant and soft.
Step 7. Pour in the sauce and let it bubble hard for 3 minutes until it thickens and turns glossy and dark. Return the tofu and turn it gently until every cube is coated.
Step 8. Pile onto rice and cover with the reserved crisp shallots. Eat straight away, while the shallots are still noisy.
Notes from the kitchen
- Two tablespoons of pepper is correct and it is meant to bite. Start at one if you are cooking for children, and pass more at the table.
- Cornflour is doing structural work — without it the sauce slides off. Do not swap it for plain flour.
- Fry a double batch of shallots. They keep for a week in a jar and improve almost anything: noodles, soup, a plain baked potato.
