There are a wide range of dishes that I consider good and worth making and worth telling you about. Some are simply satisfying and delicious, others are totally knock-your-socks-off amazing. This recipe is from the later category of recipes. It comes from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and I have been eying it for weeks but feeling stressed out by the three kinds of soy sauce it calls for in the recipe. I didn’t know there were three kinds of soy sauce and I had no idea how I would find them, but am I glad I did.
Googling provided some [1] answers [2] but I eventually had to make a trip to Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights to find the sauces I wanted (but don’t let this discourage out!, see notes below). This recipe is simple but does require some time and a lot of chopping. There were moments when I began to doubt the success of the final product, but when I sat down to eat I was so impressed with what I had created and this immediately made its way onto my list of favorite foods.
This is spicy, there is a lot of black pepper, chile pepper and ginger in this recipe. But it is also sweet, and comforting and incredible and you can adjust the spice as you see fit. We served this on a bed of jasmine rice and ate slices of watermelon along side. It was totally perfect. I wish it were simpler so that it could be a weekly addition to our menu. We ate the leftovers the next day and like most things they weren’t as good. The tofu was no longer crispy and the sauce was less plentiful, but we still thoroughly enjoyed it. My advice to you is to make this for three of your favorite people and I guarantee there will be no leftovers.
*Notes on the soy sauce: don’t stress out about this. I am going to try next time only using two types. I have a sweet Indonesian Soy Sauce (like this) and a light soy sauce. But I imagine some combination of soy sauce and honey could also work.
*A note on measurements. I left this recipe in grams, as I find it easier to work with weight than volume anyway. We all should own an inexpensive kitchen scale so that we aren’t frustrated or limited by recipes from the rest of the world. Says me. ; )
Black Pepper Tofu (adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi [3])
- 800g firm, fresh tofu
- Cornflour/cornstarch, to dust the tofu
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 113 g butter (1 stick)
- 12 small shallots (350g), peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 red chillies, thinly sliced
- 12 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 tbsp chopped ginger
- 4 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
- 3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 16 small, thin spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long
- jasmine rice for serving
Cut the tofu into 3cm x 2cm blocks and toss them in cornflour, shaking off the excess. Pour in enough oil to come 0.5cm up the sides of a large frying pan, and bring up to frying heat. Fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel.
Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan and throw in the butter. Once it has melted, add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, and sauté for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the contents of the pan are shiny and totally soft. While you wait, crush the peppercorns, using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. They should be quite coarse.
When the shallots and chillies are soft, add the soy sauces and the sugar, stir, then stir in the crushed pepper. Warm the tofu in the sauce for about a minute, then add the spring onion and stir through. Serve hot with steamed rice.