Pan-Fried Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce

"A tasty snack or appetizer. Tofu cubes are very crispy outside, yet warm and soft inside. Sort of like Asian "french fries". And i simple love the sauce, even used it as salad dressing sometimes!"
 
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photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
photo by limeandspoontt
photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
photo by DrGaellon photo by DrGaellon
photo by eatrealfood photo by eatrealfood
Ready In:
20mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
2
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ingredients

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directions

  • Drain tofu (i pressed gently between paper towels).
  • Cut into bite-sized cubes.
  • Toss with cornstarch, coating the cubes.
  • Sprinkle a little salt and pepper.
  • Heat some oil (about 3-4 tablespoon, just ensure pan is coated).
  • Fry the tofu cubes in batches, making sure all sides are lightly browned.
  • Drain on paper towels, then sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired.
  • Sauce: Heat the milk in small saucepan (you can make sauce in microwave too).
  • Add peanut butter, stirring well.
  • Add other seasonings, according to personal taste (I love spicy food, so i added LOTS of chilli flakes!). If you use coconut milk, add 1/2 - 1 tsp of lime juice too - it will be great!
  • Serve hot, as a snack or appetizer. Sometimes i serve them with a sweet Chinese dessert: Green Bean Soup.

Questions & Replies

  1. How do you get the corn starch to stick to the tofu?
     
  2. Has anybody used chili crisp in the sauce?
     
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Reviews

  1. This is by far my favorite way to eat tofu - it's SUPER EASY to make, SUPER YUMMY - and seriously addicting!!! The tofu turns out so light & crispy. Even my husband who doesn't really like tofu loves this and we always fight over the last piece. I always use x-tra firm tofu and drain it for 30 mins before frying by placing it b/w 2 plates weighted by a cast-iron pan. Then I fry it in a little peanut oil. It always turns out perfect. We have made the peanut sauce in every combination possible and we love it best with chunky peanut butter, fresh minced garlic, soy sauce, coconut milk, 1/2 tbsp. chili sauce, and the juice from 1/2 a lime which makes is more Thai-like. We love spicy food, but found we didn't need the chili flakes - it was spicy enough with the chili sauce. This is a favorite appetizer/light meal in our house that we feel good about eating!!! Thanks WaterMelon!
     
  2. This was very tasty! I made a whole meal out of it. After I finished fying the tofu, I sauteed broccoli, red peppers and green onions using the same oil. When the veggies were done, I put the tofu back into the pan. I TRIPPLED the peanut sauce, and when that finished cooking I poured it over the tofu/veggie mixture. We ate the mixture over steamed rice. My DH loved it. We will definitely be making again.
     
  3. I loved this recipe! I tweaked the sauce a bit by adding some rice vinegar. I served this with soba noodles and spinach. Yum! Thanks for sharing!
     
  4. I was ready to give the fried tofu five stars and the peanut sauce only one. I like my peanut sauce sweet & spicy and I was adding tons of coconut milk and sweetener to try to get it to my liking. But as I was clearing my mess in the kitchen, I tasted to the coconut milk and discovered that Lite Coconut Milk is not only light in fat and calories but light in taste. It hardly tastes like coconut milk at all. So I'm sure that when I make this again, and I definitely will, I'll make it with full fat coconut milk and hope that it actually has the right flavor.
     
  5. This was delicious and so simple. Two of my favorite things. I used less oil, almond milk and two teaspoon of sweet chili sauce instead of a tablespoon. I'm looking forward to making this again. Thanks so much for sharing the keeper recipe.
     
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Tweaks

  1. The two kids who loved this dish enjoyed it immensely so I will try making this again using the other optional ingredients... soy sauce instead of oyster sauce, and maybe milk instead of coconut milk. Thank you for posting.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Hi everyone! I'm addicted to recipezaar - there are so many things that I love about this site; the wonderful people, recipes, lots of great pictures and there's always someone who'll answer my cooking/baking/general question. I grew up in Malaysia, but now live in sunny Singapore. Both are beautiful tropical (read: HOT!) countries in Southeast Asia. There are so many good food here, especially ethnic stuff like spicy Malaysian curries (which will clear the worst blocked nose), flaky & crispy Indian roti paratha/canai, homey Chinese stir-fries, rich & decadent Asian desserts like kuih lapis (Malay many-layers cake), pineapple tarts, crumbly peanut cookies etc. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/zaarfreak/REI/12may05REI2_S.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
 
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