Crispy tofu with an addictive spicy garlic sauce is my favorite street food. It is usually sold with crispy potatoes and roasted sausages. The sauce perfectly blends the texture and flavors. We will cover how to make the tofu crispy and the perfect sauce for spicy teeth.
——Ingredients—— 1 block 14 oz firm tofu 3/4 cup vegetable oil for my deep-shallow frying method **Hot Garlic Sauce** 3 tbsp. vegetable oil for the sauce 1 whole garlic minced 1 tbsp. chili powder 1 tsp. cumin powder 1 tsp. Chinese five spice powder ,optional 1/2 cup water 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. sugar 1 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tbsp. oyster sauce 1/4 cup chopped cilantro + chopped green onion 2-3 Thai chilies minced (adjust to your spice preference) **Starch water** 1 tbsp. cornstarch 3 tbsp. water
Vegan option This can be easily turned vegan by skipping the oyster sauce or using mushroom oyster sauce as a replacement.
I recommend half-coating the crispy tofu—cover only half with sauce and leave the other half plain. This creates an interesting contrast between the sauced and unsauced portions. So you can taste both the original, crispy tofu flavor and the enhanced, sauced flavor in each bite.
Today we'll bring this crispy tofu with garlic sauce to your kitchen with a homemade version
that keeps all the flavor without the fuss.
Drain the tofu and pat it dry with paper towels.
Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes.
Place the tofu cubes in a pan.
Prepare a whole garlic and chop it.
Mince 3 Thai chilies.
Chop cilantro and green onion.
In a small bowl, whisk 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 3 tbsp of water to make a starch slurry.
I use a pan and add about ¾ cup of oil to cover the tofu almost entirely.
So it is super quick to fry them to golden brown.
Pan fry the tofu until crispy.
Turn over the tofu pieces from time to time.
Then move to a kitchen paper to remove extra oil.
Heat about 3 tbsp of vegetable oil.
Then fry the garlic until aromatic.
Add 5 spice powder, cumin powder and chili flakes.
Fry over a small fire until aromatic.
Add around ½ cup of water.
Then season with salt, sugar, light soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Simmer for a while.
Re-stir the starch slurry.
Then slowly add it to the sauce, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
Add chili pepper, chopped scallion and coriander.
Remove from heat and we are done with this hot, spicy garlic sauce.
Now let's apply the sauce over the crispy tofu.
After mixing, the tofu will return moisture very quickly.
Enjoy this within 10 minutes for the best flavors.
You can serve this as the last side dish for your dinner or as a snack.
I recommend half coating the crispy tofu cover only half with sauce and leave the other half plain.
This creates an interesting contrast between the sauced and unsauced portions.
So you can taste both the original crispy tofu flavor and the enhanced sauced flavor in each bite.
See you next time. Bye.
