Salt and Pepper Tofu

Bake the tofu at 400 degrees for 15-20min then flip for 10min more. The cornstarch will crisp it up in the oven. Alternatively airfry at 400 for 17-20 minutes.

Please no ... first, why use plastic when we're drowing in plastic; second, tofu is delicate, and shaking it will break it up so that you get more mush than tofu pieces.

I enjoyed the texture and the salt and pepper contrast. Note: if cut into cubes, there are 6 sides. Are we to brown all of them? Also, a tip—sprinkle the hot oil with a smidgen of baking soda before adding the tofu and watch how fast browning occurs! This an Americas Test Kitchen technique that is a winner.

Tip for pan-frying tofu: instead of cubes, slice the block into 3 or 4 thin sheets, then into ~1.5” squares. They will be flat and thin, so you only need to flip them once, and they will be crispy on all sides.

An easier way of dredging the tofu is to put it all in a ziploc bag and shake.

My whole family loved the version of this I made tonight. I didn't have 5-spice powder, but kind of fudged that with a little all-spice and cinnamon. Air-fried two packages of tofu (one pack at a time) cut up and coated in cornstarch at 400 for about 15 minutes. I wanted a little dressing for it and the sushi rice I served it on, so made a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, and chili crisp. Served with roasted broccoli and cucumbers in the same dressing.

This was a lot of work for just ok results. Covering all the little cubes in cornstarch? I never want to do that again. Did I get cornstarch on my floor, countertops, hands? Of course I did. Then when you cook them it says: cook on each side. These are cubes, so six sides. So I have to turn these little suckers FIVE times? And there’s two batches of them? All while dodging oil spatter? Yes, they came out crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Can’t say it was worth it. Do not recommend.

The traditional way to do this is deep frying, in either a wok or Dutch oven. It’s much easier, and the tofu will be lighter, crispier and absorb less fat as long as you start with very hot oil.

Look at smittenkitchen eggplant tofu. She bakes it but suggests pan must be hot first.

Lovely crispy texture and the seasoning is great. I used a large mixing bowl to toss the tofu in the corn starch mixture after making an initial mess with the plate method. A pair of wooden chopsticks makes turning the tofu while cooking a lot easier.

Think of this recipe as sauteed instead of fried. 3 T oil for 4 portions of tofu is Very little, and is not fried. To answer your question, I don't think there's enough heat to produce the same result. You could try preheating a heavy sheet pan and then turning the oven to broil right before putting it in, but I think you would only save 1 T oil. Not much worth it.

I liked this. Since a few people said it was too salty, I used a big more than half the salt, and thought that was good. Otherwise I made as written. It was a little dry and I ended up kind of mixing it all up with the veggies I had also sauteed. Note that you only toss the tofu with half the spice mixture.

This was delicious but too much salt. I would use only one teaspoon.

Tasty. Reheat tofu with veggies right before serving. Add some of the spice mixture with corn starch plus sprinkle before cooking. Triple the scallions (doubled and still wanted more). Serve with pickled cabbage ( salt pepper shrimp, Hunger Pang Brooklyn, we miss your food and company).

You want the crispness that you get from sauteeing -- and to be able to stir as needed. Also: who wants to turn on the oven in this heat?