煎豆腐 (Jian Dou Fu)

Tofu [1] has been a staple of Chinese cooking for over 2000 years [2]. It is made from the pressed curds of coagulated soy milk. In many Asian cuisines, where dairy products are not part of the traditional diet, soymilk and tofu are critical sources of calcium. Tofu comes in an enormous variety of forms beyond the familiar firm, medium, and soft varieties. There’s silken tofu, dried tofu, tofu skin, tofu noodles, fermented tofu, and even dessert tofu. In Asian cooking, tofu is not thought of as a meat substitute, but rather as a different food which must be prepared differently. When done right, tofu can be a delightful contrast of textures, crisp on the outside and light and tender on the inside. This dish is a simple homestyle preparation of pan-fried firm tofu, paired with a punchy soy-garlic sauce.

Ingredients

***For the Tofu***
1 lb firm tofu
Vegetable oil
***For the Sauce***
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar

Slice the tofu into ½ inch thick pieces, and sprinkle both sides with salt. The salt will draw out some of the surface moisture and help the surface of the tofu brown. Some recipes for frying tofu (particularly Western ones) call for pressing the tofu for an extended period of time. While this does make the tofu easier to handle and cook, it also presses all of the moisture out of the tofu, resulting in a dry, tough, and unpleasant final product. Pressing tofu is appropriate when stir-frying it, but when cooking tofu on its own, we want to highlight its delicate texture. It will be sufficient to pat the tofu dry with paper towels. This will remove most of the surface moisture, reducing splattering in the pan.

I find that the easiest way to do this is to build a little tower of tofu pieces, with a sheet of paper towel between each layer. Tofu is so light that this doesn’t really squeeze the pieces—it imparts just enough pressure to keep the paper in contact with the tofu. That way, you get dry surfaces without having to pat them yourself (except the top layer, of course)! Let the tofu rest in the tower for 10 minutes before frying.

When you’re ready to fry, heat about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Tofu is mostly protein, has a high water content, rather delicate, and very lean. Remind you of anything? These characteristics are also those of a flaky fish fillet. Just like fish, tofu sticks readily, and splatters easily. So when frying tofu, the same rules as frying fish apply: 1) Lay the tofu away from you, to minimize splatter. 2) Once the tofu is down, don’t move it until you’re ready to flip. 3) Cook on a medium-high heat to color the exterior without overcooking and drying out the interior.

When the oil comes up to temperature, lay the tofu pieces into the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes without moving the pieces, until a golden crust forms on the first side. Flip each piece of tofu and fry for 4-5 minutes on the other side. Once both sides are golden, remove from the heat.

While the tofu cooks, we can prepare a dipping sauce. Tofu doesn’t have much flavor of its own, so it’s the sauce that generally gives a tofu dish its character. There are many, many variations on tofu dipping sauce—some are salty, some are spicy, some are sour, some are sweet. But all are strong flavors, painting boldly on the blank flavor canvas that the tofu provides.

This simple sauce is built around the saltiness of soy sauce and the punch of raw garlic and scallion, balanced with a bit of sugar. Finely mince the garlic and scallion, and mix well in a bowl with the sugar and soy sauce.

Drizzle about half of the sauce over the fried tofu, reserving the other half for dipping at the table, and serve immediately.

Substitutions

This recipe uses firm tofu. You can substitute medium tofu, but I do not recommend using soft or silken tofu for this recipe—these types of tofu are too delicate for this application.

The dipping sauce presented here is more of a loose guideline than a recipe. If you don’t like raw garlic, omit it, or substitute with ginger. You can also experiment with adding rice vinegar, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and chili oil to the sauce.

[1] The first recorded use of the word “tofu” in English is in a letter written in 1770 to Benjamin Franklin from British merchant James Flint, a member of the East India Company and one of the first Westerners to learn Chinese.

[2] Chinese legend attributes the invention of tofu to the Han Dynasty Prince Liu An (179-122 BCE). This is likely apocryphal, especially since it was common in written ancient Chinese history to attribute inventions and discoveries to leaders and other already famous figures of the time. However, archeological evidence does indicate that tofu existed during the Han Dynasty.

Recipe

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 10 min Total Time: 20 min

Difficulty: 2/5

Heat Sources: 1 burner

Equipment: nonstick skillet

Servings: 6

Ingredients

For the Tofu
1 lb firm tofu
Vegetable oil

For the Sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Cut the tofu into ½ inch thick pieces, sprinkle with salt, and set aside for 10 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.

2. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the tofu to the pan. Fry for 5 minutes on each side, or until the tofu pieces are crisp and golden.

3. While the tofu fries, make the sauce by combining the minced garlic, scallions, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well.

4. Drizzle some of the sauce over the fried tofu, reserving half for dipping. Serve immediately.