Salt and Pepper Tofu

Ingredients

• 500 g firm tofu
• 60 g cornflour
• 2 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp szechuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 6 spring onions, cut into lengths
• 2 red chillies, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin

Method

1. Press the tofu hard

   Wrap the block in a cloth, weight it with something heavy and leave it 20 minutes, then tear it into rough chunks. Wet tofu steams rather than crisps, and torn edges catch far more coating than clean cuts.

   20 min

2. Mix the coating

   Toast the szechuan peppercorns in a dry pan until fragrant, grind them, and mix with the cornflour, white pepper and salt. Toasting is what releases the numbing citrus note — untoasted they taste of almost nothing.

   2 min

3. Coat and fry

   Toss the tofu in the seasoned cornflour, shake off the excess, and fry at 180°C until golden and crisp. Fry in batches; crowding drops the temperature and the coating goes soft.

   6 min

4. Flash-fry the aromatics

   Pour off all but a tablespoon of oil, then stir-fry the spring onions, chillies and garlic for 30 seconds only. Garlic sliced this thin burns almost instantly.

   1 min

5. Combine and serve

   Return the tofu, toss once with a final pinch of the seasoning mix, and serve immediately. It stays crisp for about three minutes, so have everyone at the table already.