Fried tofu with soy-vinegar dip

Fried tofu with soy-vinegar dip

One of those simple Filipino all time favourite appetizers is this - shallow fried firm tofu.  Its a great accompaniment to beer and good company.  Its a Filipino habit that appetizers are always on hand while having a few drinks.  It can be a variety of dishes - sizzling platters of bopis, baked mussels, chicharon, and so many more.   This one though is the easiest to make.  You need to find the firm tofu variety as we've quite a mess before when we erroneously bought the silken type which is used mostly for salads.

To make, the tofu is cut into cubes and shallow fried in really hot vegetable oil.  The trick is to make sure the pan is super hot before putting in the vegetable oil, and then to wait for the oil to heat up before putting in the tofu to avoid them sticking on the pan.  Just a few minutes to brown the tofu is enough to have that crunchy skin but still keeps that moist characteristic of what tofu should be inside.  

To make the dip, add equal parts of vinegar and light soy sauce in a bowl, 1 small chopped onions , salt and pepper to taste then stir.