Chatting with an old Pittsburgh friend last week, we reminisced about “Tony’s Crispy Bean Curd,” one of our favorite tofu dishes at a local Chinese restaurant. It inspired me to make my own crispy bean curd that night. This one has a fruit-based sweet & sour sauce over deep-fried tofu.
Kristen’s Crispy Bean Curd
serves 2
1 block (200g) tofu (momen/firm/cotton style)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
oil for deep frying
1/2 cup orange juice (or juice of 3 mandarin oranges)
1 Tbsp onion paste (or 1 tsp minced ginger + 2 tsp minced garlic)
2 fresh red chili peppers, minced
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
pomegranate seeds
minced green onion
Press the tofu under a weight for 20-30 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Cut the tofu into bite sized cubes. Set aside.
Saute the onion paste & chili in a little bit of oil. When lightly brown, add the juice. In a separate bowl, mix 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water. Add cornstarch mixture to pan and stir to thicken the sauce, adding more water to thin as it cooks. Season with vinegar, salt and sugar - adjust to taste. Remove from heat.
Lightly coat the tofu cubes in cornstarch and deep fry at 190-200 degrees until the tofu is light brown all over.
Pour sauce over tofu and top with pomegranate seeds and onions.
Posted by kuri at January 10, 2008 10:34 AMThat looks very good, as was Tony’s. The only thing you forgot to ask was how hot one wanted the bean curd on his “spicy scale.”
Posted by: Mike on January 10, 2008 10:03 PMmmm… It looks very good. I think I will try it this weekend!
Do you have any preferred oils for deep-frying? I have never done a lot of frying and so am always at a loss to know which oils will fare best for this use.
Posted by: holly on January 11, 2008 01:39 AM