Vegan Black Pepper Tofu Recipe
Looking for a vegan tofu recipe to curb your takeout cravings? Try this quick and easy black pepper tofu stir fry recipe. Crispy tofu cubes tossed in a sticky-sweet & spicy black pepper sauce.
Ingredients
Tofu
- 400 g extra firm tofu I block, pressed - see notes
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce tamari sauce for gluten-free
- cornstarch
- 3-4 tbsp high smoke oil or l-2 tbsp if you bake your tofu
For the sauce
- 5 tbsp tamari / 80 ml for gluten-free version or soy sauce
- 5 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or dark brown sugar / 40 ml
- 3 level tsp cornstarch
- 4 large garlic cloves chopped very finely
- 6 tsp grated ginger
- 1 red chilli pepper sliced thinly
- 4 small spring onions sliced thinly
- 3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
Instructions
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Cut pressed tofu (see notes) into equal size cubes. Pour 2 tbsp of tamari or soy sauce over the dried tofu and toss so that it’s covered evenly. Only quick marination is needed. The tofu will be later coated in sauce.
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Dust the tofu in a thin layer of cornstarch, shake off any excess. If you prefer to bake your tofu skip this step.
For pan frying
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Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a wok or pan. Once the oil gets hot start frying your tofu in 4 batches. Watch over it carefully and turn often so that it does not burn. Once the first batch is nicely browned, remove tofu from the pan and place it in a piece of kitchen towel to drain the excess oil off. Continue with the remaining 3 batches.
For baking
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If you prefer to bake your tofu, heat up the oven to 180º C / 360º F and spread tofu pieces on a baking tray. Bake them for about 20-25 minutes, flipping tofu once halfway through baking.
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In a bowl, mix tamari (or soy sauce), rice wine vinegar and maple syrup with 6 tbsp (90 ml) of water. In a separate small bowl prepare cornflour slurry (mix 3 tsp of cornflour with 2 tbsp of water), which helps to thicken the sauce slightly.
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Once you finish frying the tofu, wipe the wok with a piece of kitchen towel to get rid of any starchy residue. Pour another tbsp of oil in and add sliced white parts of spring onions and sliced chilli. Save the green bits as a garnish.
Fry gently on medium heat until they both soften, for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes add pressed garlic cloves and grated ginger and fry for a bit stirring constantly so that they don’t burn.
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Push the contents of the wok to the side and pour in the frying sauce you prepared earlier along with the cornflour slurry (stir the slurry well before adding as the cornflour might be stuck a bit to the bottom). Mix the two together and let the sauce come to a gentle boil.
Let the sauce bubble gently for a minute or two so that it thickens a bit. Now incorporate softened spring onions, chilli, ginger and garlic mixture back into the sauce and add ground pepper to taste.
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Add fried or baked tofu to the sauce to warm it up gently. Serve over rice or cauliflower rice.
Recipe Notes
- Pressed tofu absorbs flavors better so take the extra minutes to press it. To press the tofu, take a bunch of kitchen towels and a heavyweight pan. I always use the lid of my Dutch oven. Wrap your tofu in a bunch of layers of paper towel, place it on a flat plate and weigh it down with something heavy. A pan, heavy lid, a can, etc. Once the paper towel becomes soaking wet, change for a new double layer. Repeat a few times until the paper towel stays almost dry.
- Make sure you use EXTRA firm tofu. It will produce the crispiest cubes by far
- This vegan tofu stir fry is a little spicy because of the red chilis and black peppercorns. If you aren’t a fan of spicy food, start with 1/2 chili and make sure to remove the seeds and white ribs to make it milder. You could also cut back on some of the black pepper to preference!
- You can use all black peppercorns or a medley of different colored peppercorns.