Crispy pieces of tofu with a spicy garlic sauce—the pieces of tofu are like sponges and absorb all the flavours of the sauce, that’s a delicate balance of salty, spicy, and sweet.
YU XIANG (FISH FRAGRANCE)
The sauce is inspired by Szechuan Yu Xiang 鱼香, also known as fish fragrance (but doesn’t actually contain any seafood), which is a sauce used to cook meat or vegetables in.
Yu Xiang dishes usually have some ground meat like pork added to it for extra texture but I opted for just plain tofu for this dish.
This sauce is comprised of a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, doubanjiang, chili, black vinegar or Chinkiang vinegar that’s cooked with ginger, garlic, scallions, and chili. This dish is packed with very bold flavours with a nice kick of heat.
HOW TO ENJOY
Mix the tofu well in the sauce to make sure it really absorbs the flavours!
You can enjoy this as a hearty main, a side, or as an appetiser.
Serve it with some rice. You can also have this with noodles and scoop over that sauce to coat your noodles in.
THE SAUCE
The sauce is a delicious balance of sweet, salty, spicy and that little bit of fruitiness from the black vinegar.
- soy sauce
- Chinese black vinegar or Chinkiang vinegar
- doubanjiang
- sesame oil
- water
- sugar or more, adjust to desired sweetness
You can easily adjust the sauce to your desired taste.
PREPARING THE TOFU
Dry the tofu. I wrap the tofu in towels and place a plate on top of it until excess liquid is absorbed by the towels. You can also opt to use a tofu press.
Once dry, cut into 1-inch strips or cubes (any shape is fine!)
COOKING THE TOFU
You can either:
- Deep fry your tofu
- Pan-fry your tofu in shallow oil
- Bake or air-fry your tofu
It's really up to you how you want to cook your tofu as long as you get it nice golden brown and crisp. I deep-fried mine.
DEEP-FRYING THE TOFU
I deep-fried mine in neutral oil (I used vegetable oil) since I love the juiciness of tofu when deep-fried. But you can of course just pan-fry to bake these with less oil. This is just my personal preference since I love fried food!
Heat a large pan or wok over high heat. Add enough oil to coat the surface of the pan or complete submerge the tofu. You can opt to deep-fry or pan-fry your tofu until crisp. If you’re looking to use less oil, you can opt to bake or air-fry your tofu and just spray/brush some oil to coat the tofu.
When the oil is hot, add in the tofu. The tofu should immediately sizzle when you add them in the oil.
Leave the tofu to cook over medium high until golden brown, around 4 to 5 minutes. You may beed to flip them over if you’re pan-frying them. Repeat until all the sides are golden brown and crisp.
Remove the tofu from the oil then set aside. Drain the excess oil form the pan.
I have this oil container with a strainer on top that I use to store my oil. Since tofu are very neutral, I can still use this oil for another 1-2 times.
Transfer your tofu to a bowl.
COOKING DOWN THE AROMATICS AND SPICE
For the chili powder, I actually used gochugaru or Korean chili powder. It's not as hot as other chilli powders and has this bright red hue.
WHAT TO DO:
In the same pan/wok or a smaller sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp neutral oil over medium high heat.
Once hot, sauté the ginger and garlic.
Once aromatic, around 1 minute, add in the chili flakes/powder and mix into the oil.
Pour in the sauce and then leave to simmer to a boil.
Once it boils, add in the chopped scallions.
POUR THE SAUCE ONTO THE TOFU
Turn off the heat and immediately pour the spicy garlic sauce over your tofu while it's still hot. Finish your tofu with more chopped scallions and chopped cilantro.
SERVE AND ENJOY
Mix well and allow the tofu to soak in the sauce and the spicy garlic flavours. This is one of those dishes that gets better the longer it sits in the sauce!
Enjoy your tofu wit rice or noodles! I also love using the excess sauce to pour over some boiled noodles.
You can also check out my other tofu recipes here or down below:
You can also check out my other vegan tofu recipes here or down below:
Check out my tips on how to store tofu!
Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce (Szechuan Yu Xiang-Inspired)
Ingredients
Tofu
Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar or Chinkiang vinegar, adjust to desired acidity (see notes)
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp doubanjiang adjust to taste (see notes)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tbsp sugar or more, adjust to desired sweetness
Stir-Frying
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1-3 tsp chili powder or flakes adjust according to desired spice level (I used gochugaru) see notes
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 scallion sliced
To Finish
- Chopped scallions for garnish
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- You can see the step-by-step images on how to prepare this dish in the blog post above.
- Dry the tofu. I wrap the tofu in towels and place a plate on top of it until excess liquid is absorbed by the towels. You can also opt to use a tofu press. Once dry, cut into 1-inch strips or cubes (any shape is fine!)
- Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat a large pan or wok over high heat. Add enough oil to coat the surface of the pan or complete submerge the tofu. You can opt to deep-fry or pan-fry your tofu until crisp. If you’re looking to use less oil, you can opt to bake or air-fry your tofu and just spray/brush some oil to coat the tofu.
- When the oil is hot, add in the tofu. The tofu should immediately sizzle when you add them in the oil.
- Leave the tofu to cook over medium high until golden brown, around 4 to 5 minutes. You may beed to flip them over if you’re pan-frying them. Repeat until all the sides are golden brown and crisp.
- Remove the tofu from the oil then set aside. Drain the excess oil form the pan. I have this oil container with a strainer on top that I use to store my oil. Since tofu are very neutral, I can still use this oil for another 1-2 times. Transfer your tofu to a bowl.
- In the same pan/wok or a smaller sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp neutral oil over medium high heat. Once hot, sauté the ginger and garlic. Once aromatic, around 1 minute, add in the chili flakes/powder and mix into the oil. Pour in the sauce and then leave to simmer to a boil. Once it boils, add in the chopped scallions.
- Turn off the heat and immediately pour the sizzling hot sauce over your tofu. Finish your tofu with more chopped scallions and chopped cilantro. Mix well and allow the tofu to soak in the sauce and the flavours.
- Enjoy your tofu wit rice or noodles! I also love using the excess sauce to pour over some boiled noodles.
WATCH Video
Notes
Doubanjiang or Chili Broad Bean Paste
- If you don't have access to doubanjiang you can add some doenjang (Korean soy bean paste) or even some miso paste to give this dish that unique saltiness from a fermented bean paste. You'll of course need to add a bit more chili to add to the spice that miso paste and doenjang lack.
- Sriracha can be a great addition too!
Chili Powder/Flakes
- I used gochugaru or Korean chili powder for this recipe. It's not as hot as other chiles and has a bright red hue. I added 1/2 tbsp chili powder but you can adjust according to your heat tolerance and desired spice.
Chinese Black Vinegar
- Chinese black vinegar has a very distinct somewhat fruity flavour that's unlike other vinegar. Though if you don't have access to Chinese black vinegar, you can do away with rice vinegar or even sushi vinegar and just adjust to your taste.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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Soooo goood!!!???
All your recipes are so flavorful! Since finding your blog, I’ve been really enjoying cooking and eating food. Thank you for blessing us with your creativity! Even with just a few staple ingredients, I can recreate almost all of them. For this one, I used doenjang and some sriracha and it was way too dank!
I can imagine good how this tastes with both doenjang and sriracha! An amazing combo! And thank you so much Jeni ◡̈