This dish is inspired by street food we found during our trip to Xi’an. It was “tieban dofu,” or griddled tofu, using Xinjiang spices like cumin and chili. It’s tasty, healthy, and vegan! But the good news with this dish is that it has so much great flavor, you’ll never feel deprived despite its meatlessnes,
You can serve this dish with green vegetables and add rice as a side if you’re not too carb conscious. The textures and flavors of the dish were pretty awesome, especially since the fresh tofu here in our local market is really exceptional. But the firm tofu you can find in the store works fine as well!
Tofu lovers, explore our other tofu recipes after you have tried this one!
Recipe Instructions
Open the package of firm tofu, and place on a plate to drain for 10 minutes. Slice it into ¾-inch thick pieces.
Use a mortar and pestle to roughly crush the cumin seeds and add the Sichuan peppercorn powder if using, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Mix well.
Combine 1 teaspoon oil, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce in small bowl. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a cast iron skillet or nonstick pan over high heat and carefully place the tofu in the pan.
Next, sprinkle about half of the dried spices evenly over the tofu and let cook for 3-5 minutes.
When the bottom is golden brown, flip the tofu. Brush the tofu steak with about half of the sauce and sprinkle over the rest of the spices. Cook for 3 minutes and flip the tofu over again.
Brush the other side with the remaining sauce, sprinkle with scallion and cilantro.
Serve your tofu steak with some rice and a stir fried bok choy!
Spicy Griddled Tofu “Steaks”
Ingredients
- 1 pound firm tofu
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn powder (optional)
- 1 teaspoon red chili pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oil (plus 1 teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- Open the package of tofu and place on a plate to drain for 10 minutes. Slice it into ¾-inch thick pieces. Use a mortar and pestle to roughly crush the cumin seeds and add the Sichuan peppercorn powder if using, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Mix well.
- Combine 1 teaspoon oil, hoisin, and soy sauce in small bowl. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a cast iron skillet or nonstick pan over high heat and carefully place the tofu in the pan.
- Next, sprinkle about half of the dried spices evenly over the tofu and let cook for 3-5 minutes. When the bottom is golden brown, flip the tofu. Brush the tofu with about half of the sauce and sprinkle over the rest of the spices. Cook for 3 minutes and flip the tofu over again.
- Brush the other side with the remaining sauce, sprinkle with scallion and cilantro, and serve.
This dish was absolutely hands-down superb! I added the peppercorn and it added a nice touch. It was easy to prepare, inexpensive, and tasted delicious over a bed of rice. Big thumbs up!
Amazing and super easy! Served with rice pilaf and leftover mixed roasted veggies
Love that, Laura!
This was great!! Double the sauce and spices. And I had to tweak the spices. I did 2 tsp cumin seeds crushed in a mortar, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp cayenne
Hi Rachael, thanks for sharing your adjustments with us and our readers!
I’m not a vegetarian and I thought this was an excellent dish! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Hi Cynthia, excellent – I have all but forgotten this recipe. We used to have it often when I lived in Beijing
Hi there. When I made this it stuck to the non stick pan really badly. Can you give me any tips on how to avoid this? It tasted delicious and so I want to be able to make it again!
Hi Mia, you will want to pat the tofu dry and add a little bit more oil, but most importantly, make sure your pan is heated up properly. If the tofu still sticks to your non-stick pan even after taking these steps, it may be time to retire it. Please also read Judy’s post on how to fry foods without sticking. without using a non-stick pan.
Made this last night and it was amazing! Enjoyed it with some rice and stir fried broccoli! I love your blog. Thank you for your work.
Thank you for your lovely comment!
My husband whipped this up and then he rated it
a 6! Unfortunately there’s only 5 stars available. When in our mid and late 50’s we adopted a vegan diet but never used tofu very much at all in the early years. With recipes like this we’ll be eating it more often. This was easy and really delicious.
Hi Joan, excellent to hear that you and your husband enjoyed it!
This recipe is fantastic and made a tofu lover out of a tofu hater! This is a regular recipe in our house. Thank you for sharing it!
You’re welcome Andrea!
Great recipe indeed! I used chu hou paste instead of hoisin sauce, but I think the outcome was very good too.
Congratulations to all of you on your wonderful blog. Greetings from Spain!
Hi Guillermo, Chee hou paste will do just fine also! I love visiting Spain and the food there too!
It Looks really good. I am thinking it might just make good Sandwiches?
Hi sara, We have not tried these tofu steaks for sandwiches, so let us know what you think if you try it!