Salt and Pepper Jade Tofu 椒盐玉子豆腐

I think it’s pretty interesting that different Chinatowns across America feature different dishes. I’ve never seen this kind of tofu in Chinese restaurants in Hawaii and they’re not as common there. Growing up, our family didn’t go out to eat much and mostly cooked at home. But I never remembered having this in Hawaii. It’s now going to be so hard to say what the restaurant environment will be after COVID-19 passes, but at least before this came about, Chicago’s Chinatown seemed to feature 玉子豆腐 jade/egg/Japanese tofu on a lot of menus.

Last summer, I hosted my cousin who did his undergrad at the University of Iowa and his family came over from China to celebrate his graduation. His family owns a mom and pop dim sum restaurant in Zhongshan and when I took them out to Phoenix Restaurant, we had a dish with jade tofu, trumpet mushrooms, and bok choy in a 上湯 superior stock based sauce. I asked them about this kind of tofu, and my cousin’s parents said they tried to put this on the menu back in China, but took it off. While they enjoy it, they noticed that the locals there preferred the flavor of fresh soybeans from local tofu makers.

I like this kind of tofu a lot and I’ve had it made with the salt and pepper preparation. I’ve done at home to deep fry the jade tofu, and while it cooks extremely quickly, it turns out pan frying it in a more home style way works really well too without using as much oil.

Technically, this isn’t tofu but the texture resembles tofu enough that it’s called that. I’ll do a separate post soon about how to make it from scratch. There’s only two things to know and that it’s already cooked so you’re only reheating it and crisping the outside. The other thing is that this tofu quickly absorbs starch so you want to dredge it at the last possible moment before pan or deep frying it.

I think of this dish as a hybrid between Japanese and Cantonese cuisines. After all, jade tofu originated in Japan and I’ll go more in detail in a separate post. At home, this is best made in a non-stick pan because you won’t have to use much oil. If you made a batch of 椒盐 salt and pepper, then use this as seasoning as well. Otherwise, you can buy blends like this at the store too.

There might seem to be a lot of doing a few steps and setting things aside. This dish cooks very fast so it’s important to be as organized as possible once you start cooking.

RECIPE:

1 sleeve of jade tofu
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 red chilies, thinly sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c cornstarch
椒盐 salt and pepper, to taste
Neutral oil

Mince the garlic and chilies and set them aside in a bowl. Wash and thinly slice the green onion and also set them in the bowl with the garlic and chilies.

Place the cornstarch on a plate and set aside.

Have a paper towel lined plate ready and set aside.

Have your jar of 椒盐 salt and pepper ready by the stove with the lid open or in a bowl for easy access.

Cut the jade tofu into slices about 1/2 inch thick and set them aside.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add neutral oil to it.

Dip each slice of jade tofu into the cornstarch and gently shake off any excess. It is important to transfer them over to the frying pan as soon as possible as it will get crumbly from absorbing the starch.

Pan fry for about 90 seconds or until the bottom is a light golden brown. Gently flip each one and fry for another 90 seconds or until the second side is also lightly golden brown. Transfer this to the paper towel lined plate.

Repeat the frying step with any remaining jade tofu. I have a medium sized non-stick pan and I’m able to fry about half a sleeve at a time.

Once you have fried all the jade tofu, use a paper towel and soak up most of the oil from the pan. You want the frying pan to be relatively dry.

Add the garlic, chilies, and green onions and stir them to quickly stir fry them for about 30 seconds or until they are fragrant.

Add the fried jade tofu back to the pan and toss for about another 30 seconds. While you tossing, season with 椒盐 salt and pepper to taste.

Plate and enjoy while it’s still warm and crispy!