3:36 "In the West, tofu has this connotation as a [meat] substitute, but in Asian culture, it's often the star of the show." Thank you so much for saying this!!!!! I love the educational parts of your show.
Tofu as impossible meat is totally missing the point ... It should be prepared and cooked in the same way in the West as in Asia. Spaghetti isn't used in Asia as a ramen substitute, right?
So true! Other plant-based ingredients, from tempe to jackfruit, they are are their own categories/ stars of the dish and rarely consider as 'substitute' like in the West. I just so annoyed why vegetarian/vegan in the west have to be always that kind of mindset ;/
Bless Pops for explaining the Why, When & How in all these recipes because it really arms us non-chefs with tools and a great education on each ingredient and allows us to a-ply this knowledge in our own experiments. I keep foolishly buying tofu with optimism that I’ll figure it out. Thanks to this generous recipe, I think I can confidently accomplish a tofu dish!
It takes some time to figure tofu out but, once you do it so worth it!! I haven't ever heard/seen his technique for drawing the water out by boiling it in salt water, I've always pressed my tofu between 2 flat surfaces with weight on top but, I like his way a lot more, going to try it next time. Biggest thing IMO is getting the water out of the tofu be fore cooking it because it's either going to ruin your dish with liquid or never take the flavor but, I always have luck with getting all the water out and then ill add my seasonings to water and let tofu suck that up while cooking, or if you do what he's done and coat with starch add a sauce/dry spice after it just turns out better but, I'm sure others could tell you way more than I.
Thank you for the English subtitles and voice over. I tried to learn Cantonese from college office mates and failed miserably. Your dad is awesome for sharing his wisdom and for his joyful energy. You are awesome for the generous and skillful way you have presented this recipe. Thank you!
For vegans: I've tried this without egg .. it works well, but you need to double-fry. Put the cooked dry tofu in a bag with good excess of starch. shake till all is covered. Fry, let cool on a paper that absorbs fat, fry again. After one frying the tofu is crispy but will get soggy in next steps. With double frying the tofu stays crispy forever.
Another tip is to add 1/2 tbs bobs red mills egg replacement per egg equivalency, add 2 tbs of water and emusify 1 tsp of olive oil (you can even flavor it with 2 pinch of kala manak for an accurate egg taste).
@@katscua417 Personally I just buy very firm tofu and then press it lightly .. a little moisture is needed for the starch to stick to it well. I've never boiled my (edit: firm) tofu before frying - maybe it's better, but I haven't tried it yet.
Will try it with Just Egg. Made quinoa croquettes with it today and panko and they were amazing. I LOVE crispy tofu and if it's with a spicy savory sauce and white rice,damn
I made this yesterday it was delicious. I did skip the blanching of the tofu as I was in a rush but still followed the techniques and got a lovely end result. I needed to swap out the cornstarch for rice flour as that was all I had. I tossed it in some chili oil just before serving and all my kids finished the pot! Thankyoufor this great recipe. it was such a light but flavorful meal.
I love your dad and how great you bond. And how awesome he is to cook and also explain the process. My Dad passed away when I was 23, I am now 40. I cook for my Mum often, I will try to cook this dish. She loves Asian inspired dishes, with all the vegetables also. Just not spicy! Thankyou, another dish I can try and make for my family. EDIT: Also this looks like it can be Gluten Free. Unfortunately our family cannot eat gluten, so this will be an awesome dish! Thankyou Lau and family
I made this last night and it was smashing good. I am once again mind-blown at how a simple method of preparing the tofu has such a profound impact on the outcome. I'd done many a fried tofu dish with the simple "dust in cornstarch then fry" and it was fine. This method though...it's not even a fair comparison. I had to take a taste bite of just the tofu, and I would eat it without any other preparation. It absolutely brought the tofu to life.
Some super savory tips Replace salt with good generous amount belacan (shrimp paste looks like a brick) in the water boiling tofu and let it marinade and cool down for couple minutes. Crush Toast dried some belacan about a table spoon and mix it with flour. No salt needed belacan is salty enough Your whole house will smell really fishy so make sure ventilation is good.
This is the first video I've seen from your channel, and I loved it! I love your dad's style of explaining - all humility and passion for his craft and zero ego. And your family are so wholesome! Definitely going to binge watch a bunch of your content!
Your dad is a born teacher! I love how he speaks of the fundamentals of cooking as he cooks. This is the 3rd or 4th video of yours that I watched, and I remember that the first one also had moments like that. I love it when cooks teach about the why, not just showing us the how. Thanks so much! Also, your family is adorable. 😍
This is the first recipe I made from this channel and wanted to share that my husband said this is the best crispy tofu he's ever had. I want to thank you for your passion and dedication of sharing Chef Lau's Cantonese recipes. I watch these videos not only for Chef Lau's erudite knowledge on Cantonese cooking and cuisine, but also it brings me back to the days when my dad also cooked Cantonese/Hakka cuisine. My dad passed away 12 years ago and I would have to try to mimic his cooking but I didnt take the time to jot down recipes or ask why a dish is prepared a certain way. Please keep the videos coming as this will preserve Cantonese cooking for many generations!
Really enjoy these cooking videos. My Dad worked in Chinese restaurants for many years and your dad reminds me very much of him, down to his expressions and descriptions of the techniques when trying to teach me when I was young. All the best.
A bit of a warning for anyone who's trying this dish, It's addicting as hell, watch out. I've been taught how to make this dish around a week ago and now I'm stocking a lot of tofu just to make this dish DAILY. breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack I can't get myself to stop making this dish. It's so simple, yet so flavorful and even more complete with hot rice my god.
I never thought about boiling with salt to help it dry out!! I always struggle to get mine dry enough to fry with such a crispy texture! Thank you and thank your dad for showing us these tricks!
Aloha from Hawai’i 🌺 This video is wonderful! I love tofu and could never understand when people tried to “ cover “ the “ no flavor “. Your father is the perfect chef for this recipe and your family makes me respect this video and recipe even more. All the best to you
the best part of these videos is when you are asking dad questions, i've never once seen him not have a clear answer with a reason for why he is doing something. i don't even cook much chinese food and just those parts make it very interesting to watch. i love to watch someone with such a deep life experience explaining how they view something or why they view it that way. his views aren't mystical or tied to traditions he can't explain, when he explains them it seems like common sense. to be really honest, I don't like tofu and deep frying is something i avoid doing at all costs, but i'll probably try making this.
I always have trouble making this dish for my family. Now that I know the proper process, I will give it a try again this weekend. Thank you Chef Lau... you are simply the best! Who needs Yan Can Cook when we have Made with Lau.
I come for the recipes and stay for the warm, family feeling. Beautifully cooked food, masterfully edited...these videos are always such a pleasure. And I learn so much!
thank you! Always wondered why my fried tofu was not crispy. Daddy Lau's techniques were an invaluable lesson to getting home cooked fried tofu on a par with what is served in restaurants. The Lau family's efforts to share Daddy Lau's legacy is working; you have helped us to serve better tasting/more authentic Chinese food at home. Love it!
Since it was my first time buying tofu i bought silken tofu which is not ideal for fried tofu since it is too soft . However boiling it with salt water firmed it up and I really enjoyed this! It tasted like fried chicken but better❤❤
This was the very first tofu dish I ever tried to make and it turned out super yummy! I fell in love with fried tofu. I made some for my relatives when they were over and they loved it too. Eventho I barely cook, this was an easy-to-follow recipe that even I couldn't mess up! I plated it with steamed green beans and rice. I can't get enough of it! Thank you for the guidance!
Yes, lol, this literally IS my favorite tofu dish. Salt & pepper style is delicious on almost anything but I think tofu really shows it off better than most meats. The consistency of the tofu in this dish is wonderful too.
My grandma passed away last year but due to covid 19, I wasn’t able to make it back to Hong Kong to see her. My grandma loved food, her cookings always amazed me and for the longest time I want to document them exactly how you are doing it. Your dad definitely reminds me of my grandma. The way he speaks, the way he explained how to cook the dish & how he gets excited when the dish is done is the same as my grandma shouting out loud from her kitchen when the food is ready. I love seeing you guys eatting together and make conversations, this is how I would have imagined to do with my grandma. Thank you so much for doing this & definitely keeping these receipts for my children as well! 💖
Love the father/son collaboration! Great video and amazing looking recipe. Thanks for inviting us into your kitchen and sharing this, I can't wait to try it!
You guys are absolutely a wonderful family. And Daddy Lau's Chef Skills are amazing and a true gift for everyone to enjoy and cherish. Great and Wholesome Channel!
Watching the Made With Lau videos has made the texture of the recipes I make so much better, not only the flavor. The dishes taste so much more like the restaurant style food I am aiming for. Thank you, Lau Family!
I made this tofu last night and it is EXCELLENT AND DELICIOUS! Yes it is our new favorite, boil for 2 minutes in salt water and it’s a game changer. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is as great as our local Thai restaurant makes it! ❤❤❤❤
I absolutely love learning from your dad! He's calm and straight forward. And quick! I also love hearing his language. It's so good on the ears. You are so lucky to have him!!
This has always been my favorite dish to order at Chinese restaurants, and it's always the dish that gets finished first. My family is definitely going to try to make this this weekend. Thanks for this amazing video!
Me and my girlfriend just made it for her parents. We are all vegetarians so this was a perfect meal along with some chips fried in the same oil and some cavalero fried in sesame oil with sea salt and soy sauce. Thanks Lau for this recipe! You've put a smile on all of our faces!
Cavalero? Did you mean cavolo nero? I tried to find a Cavalero, but couldn't find a food item by that spelling. But, I found a dark, curly Italian kale called, cavolo nero. I was really curious because it just sounded so good.
I can't imagine how many people are going to end up amazing cooks due to your (and others) videos. If I had content this great growing up I would have been a lot better by now haha. Especially with recipes for some of my all time favourite dishes (this one is totally up there with Mapo Tofu)
I *love* salt & pepper tofu, and really almost any kind of fried tofu. it's underappreciated here in America, but thanks to folks like y'all and other Asian youtubers, we're learning how to cook it properly and how delicious it really can be! I've made it fresh several times, and IMO that's the BEST tofu -- you can eat it raw with just soy sauce and it's amazing. but it's a lot to clean up and cooked tofu is so good and easy to make; I eat it all the time.
I really like the way you use English subtitles, talking through while your Dad cooking and also Summary in the end to make it easy for us. Cam Cam is quite adorable 😍 too
I love tofu in any preparation!! Fried gets extra points 🤗 I've never heard about the salted water boiling prior, it sure makes perfect sense! I've only found the freezing technique. For me I've fried many pounds of tofu and it's never anywhere near as delicious as getting it from a favorite place. Thank you! 🤗🌻❤👍✌
The reason I learn from this channel is because there's a lot of explanation for people who are still learning how to cook. Even if the question is simple, we get an explanation.
I love this! People always think tofu is this tasteless meat substitute that you need to make yourself eat. I make tofu for lunch daily by choice using similar recipes! Like fried tofu on white rice and a fried egg 💕It’s delicious!
One of the reasons that I like that they answer the questions while eating the food is because I get a better idea of what to put with the dish as well. Its much appreciated!
I just made this and am still eating it and it's so good! I've tried making tofu recipes before and they were always so-so, but I knew when I saw this video, that this one would be a winner. I always got that "container" tofu aftertaste but I couldn't taste it when the tofu was prepared this way. Cooking and adding the leftover egg was also a nice addition! Thank you so much for sharing! As a Chinese adoptee, I thoroughly enjoy learning about Chinese food, especially with your educational excerpts!
Amazing! I really appreciate how you ask questions like what options could work instead of whatever ingredient, and talk about why certain steps are important!
Love fried tofu dishes, especially covered with sauce just before serving, but we only ate this sort of dish at restaurants bc my parents don’t know how to deep fry anything. Can’t wait to try this out! Love the format of your videos- very organized, and the summary at the end is nice.
Another recipe where I have 99% of the ingredients in my house all the time. In this case tofu isn't always in my house because I never mastered how to cook it. I will be trying this recipe next since the Hot & Sour soup recipe turned out spectacular. These instructions are very easy to follow, so I guess I'll try this one over the weekend. Thank you so much for this video!
I’m so glad this was recommended to me! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’m learning to like tofu and it’s so helpful to get tips from people who know what they’re doing
OMG thank you so much for this recipe daddy Lau! I'm not vegetarian but this is so good, even if you don't care for veggies like my hubby, you will be hooked!
Oh gosh this was so delicious. You know it turns out delicious when the kids just keep shoving their chopsticks in their mouths and don't talk. We felt like we were back in Cheung Chau on a sunny Saturday. Thank you for teaching me this favourite. I made a mistake though and forgot to dip it in the egg even though I prepared it. So it was double coated. Don't give up if you make this mistake! It was still so good double crusted!
I happened upon this video this morning, and made this for lunch 😂 I've never prepared tofu like this before, and it was incredible. Thank you so much for sharing this information and technique!
Hi Lau clan!! I will be trying this recipe with the extra flavours of chili and garlic! I usually make salt and pepper tofu and a trick with the flour dredging that really works well for me is using a ziplock bag, putting the tofu and flour in and shaking it, it's quite consistent!
Oh my gosh! This video is amazing and I'm still at the middle of it! Just with your father's techniques and the history part of the tofu! Thank you it is a pleasure to watch this!
I grew up with a mom and pop cantonese restaurant in the neighborhood. My favorite were these fried tofus. After the dad retired, the restaurant closed, and I have never been able to find this exact dish. Thank you for sharing this! This is exactly like how I remember them! ❤️
So appreciative of a Cantonese-speaking cook making Cantonese cuisine! Bravo! I always skip those cooking videos from cooks trying to make Cantonese cuisines when they are clearly not from the region. Authentic Cantonese cuisine rocks!
I've been wanting to try cooking with tofu for a while. Purely to add more non-meat options into our diet. I did it once before many years back and didn't realise about the need to squeeze the additional water from it (a soft block) so it didn't really pick up any flavour. This though is a master class, perfect for a beginner. So good to learn from the many years of experience your father has with cooking delicious foods. Thank you.
Great guide! Thank you. What would you recommend instead for the egg? Is there anything special we could replace it with in order for the dish to be vegan?
This looks so good. I haven't had much success cooking tofu. I am going to try your dad's cooking tips. Thank you for sharing this. I needed to add, that was the cutest family scene at the end. 💖
One of my absolute favorite dishes. It's a staple dish to order whenever I go out to a Chinese restaurant and now I can make it at home. Thank you so much!
We made this tonight, and it made my stomach so happy!!! Thank you for sharing! The only feedback I have - I printed out the recipe while I was at work, skimmed over the ingredient list at the top, and only realized that while I was cooking I didn't have dried chilies. You may want to add it to the ingredient page on your website!
id love to see how your dad would make la zi ji, the szechuan dish, sometimes just called chicken with szechuan peppers. its recently my new favorite dish and want to know any pointers he would give. Keep making great content!
It's my favourite dish too. I've also seen it being called chongqing chicken, or mala chicken, or hide & seek chicken, since towards the end of eating it people are basically hunting through a pile of chillies to find the last little bits of chicken and peanut. Amazing dish.
My favorite dish but I can’t find it anywhere ever since I’ve relocated. I was always grateful to the chef for making salt and pepper tofu for me before, but after trying to make it myself, I grew more grateful🥲. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Looks great! I have been struggling with my air fryer, determined to make crispy tofu bites in it! I love salt and pepper tofu, so I am off to attempt a version of this using the air fryer in lieu of a bottle of oil, and will finish it off with the 2 tbsp. of oil and sautéed vegetables. Wish me luck! 🤞
LOL! So glad to hear people actually want to hear about it and follow up (and are being nice in the comments section!). Sorry to report--so far, it is not going so well. By my standards as least. I have gone thru 3 packages of tofu, using a variation on 2 recipes. One recipe is for the flavor and another is for the technique. But I am still working on it. And have also learned about Chick-fil-A nuggets, so that is another version I want to conquer. I am happy to post again once I have something note-worthy to post. Just fyi, I am sorry to say, as I am the daughter of a chef and NYC restaurateur, I won't say that I am done and have mastered the air fryer and the best technique for tofu cubes, until it is 100% perfect. Including texture (which has presented a problem thus far). Otherwise, my dad will be turning in his grave... same as my mom, who was also a fabulous cook. She would sometimes say, "it must be the recipe, just toss it and try a different one." Which is a phrase I have taught my kids (and all 4 are good cooks), and also try to remember whenever I am disappointed by a new recipe or cookbook. She also always said, "if you get 1 good recipe out of a cookbook, it was worth buying!" (Back in the day). So I do often use 2 recipes, along with my knowledge (which is extensive), to create a "keeper", which is what we call any recipe worth making again. A "showstopper" or "superstar" is typically a favorite we serve to company (we have dinner parties atleast once a week). We never try something new on company, and we don't share recipes that we have created on our own with anyone. Again, I will try it a few more times, so if I come out with something great, I will be sure to share it with you! As you are strangers (I presume), and I therefore will not see my food coming and going amongst my friends. I hope atleast!
@@skontheroad Thanks for the update even. At some point I want to give it a shot. Air Fryer is tricky as this is something that is battered and Deep Fried to a degree.
i gotta tell you, i really love how you organize your recipe videos, it's always a great amount of education + instructions + heartfelt content w. daddy lau. it's aesthetically super pleasing too, keep em' coming!
I tried to make this dish for dinner last night and it was yummy delicious! Although it takes me some effort for someone like me who doesn’t cook often, but I think it’s definitely worth it! 😊
Mmmm this is gonna be our weekend treat here at my house, we always like to try a new recipe that may or not be the healthiest but that’s what the whole week is for!! 😆😝😍
Sir, I appreciate you so much for sharing your culinary secrets. Been using your recipes since I discovered your channel and they’re always a hit. Thank you ❤
