How to Make Shan Tofu (Chickpea Tofu)

5 from 3 votes

Servings: 4

Author: Lisa Lin

Shan tofu (also known as chickpea tofu) is a Burmese dish that comes from the Shan State in Myanmar. Yellow in color, this “tofu” is very easy to make and can be served in many ways. Many recipes for this chickpea tofu use only chickpea flour, water, salt, and occasionally turmeric for color. I decided to add sugar and granulated garlic to the batter to neutralize some of the strong bean flavor of the chickpea flour. Feel free to leave out the turmeric, sugar, and granulated garlic.

You can adjust the firmness of the Shan tofu by using more or less water for the batter. If you want something firmer that you can easily pan fry, I recommend using 2 3/4 cups of water or 2 1/2 cups if you want even firmer tofu. If you want a softer texture, use 3 cups of water.

You can mold the tofu in a loaf pan, square pan, or round pan, as specified in the Equipment section below. Because you’ll need to spread the batter over a larger surface area with the square and round pans, the tofu will come out thinner.

My favorite way of enjoying chickpea tofu is to pan fry the tofu and eat it with chili oil. See note 1 below for more directions. Pan-fried chickpea tofu is also great with teriyaki sauce!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Resting Time1 20

Ingredients

1 cup (100g) Bob’s Red Mill chickpea flour, flour measured with spoon-and-sweep method
1 teaspoon (4g) kosher salt, or sub with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic, can sub with garlic powder
1/16 teaspoon turmeric, can use more if you want more turmeric flavor
2 1/2 to 3 cups water, divided (see headnote about amount of water to use)
neutral oil for greasing pan and pan frying

Equipment

9x5-inch loaf pan (what I used), 8x4-inch loaf pan, 8x8-inch square pan, or an 8-inch round pan

Instructions

Grease the pan lightly with oil (any oil), making sure to grease the sides as well. Set the pan aside.
In a bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, salt, sugar, granulated garlic, and turmeric. Pour in 1 cup (230g) of water into the bowl and whisk everything until you get a smooth batter. Set aside.
Pour the remaining water into a large stainless steel saucepan. I poured 1 3/4 cups (403g) water into the saucepan for a firmer tofu. Bring the water to boil and reduce the heat to medium. Give the chickpea batter a quick whisk. Then, pour the batter into the boiling water, making sure to whisk the contents in the saucepan as you pour the batter.
Continue cooking the batter for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly to ensure that the batter doesn’t congeal at the bottom of the pan. I like to use a whisk for the first few minutes before switching to a silicone spatula. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the saucepan with a spatula as you cook the batter. The batter should look like the texture of pudding.
Turn off the heat and pour the batter into the greased pan. Work as quickly as possible because the batter crusts over very easily, making it difficult to smooth out the top. Use your spatula to scrape all the batter into the pan. Then, use the spatula to smooth out the top as much as possible.
Let the chickpea tofu cool by an open window for 15 to 20 minutes before transferring to the refrigerator to chill for another hour, until the tofu sets.
To unmold the tofu, place a chopping board over the pan. Then, invert the pan and chopping board, so that the pan with the tofu is on top of the board.
Give the pan a shake or tap to unmold the chickpea tofu completely.
Cut into cubes or slices. Pan fry tofu in oil on a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Make sure you use a good amount of oil, as the cubes can stick to the pan easily. Let the tofu pan fry for a few minutes so that a crust forms and turns golden before flipping them over. The crusty layer can get stuck to the pan easily if the tofu is not ready to be flipped. I like serving the pan-fried chickpea tofu with chili oil drizzled on top (see note 1 for directions) or seasoning it with teriyaki sauce.
Storing Chickpea Tofu: If you’re not planning on using the tofu right away, leave the tofu in the pan and cover it with plastic wrap, foil, or a lid. Try to use it within 1 or 2 days because the tofu can release quite a bit of water over time, causing the tofu to fall apart easily. Alternatively, you can freeze the tofu. Because of the high water content of the tofu, wrap the tofu in plastic wrap first before placing it into a freezer bag or container. Otherwise, a lot of ice crystals will form easily around the tofu. The tofu can be kept for a few months. Simply defrost the tofu when you want to cook it.

Notes

Serving chickpea tofu with chili oil: I typically use the chili oil that I prepare for my Chinese Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe. Essentially, pour heated oil over chili flakes, ginger, garlic, and salt for a very aromatic oil. After you pan fry the tofu, drizzle the chili oil and solids over the tofu. Use any leftover oil to season noodles or make my cucumber salad!
Seasoning chickpea tofu with teriyaki sauce: Pan fry the chickpea tofu first. Once you’ve pan fried a few sides, reduce the heat to low and drizzle teriyaki sauce over all the tofu pieces, enough to coat the tofu with the sauce. Let the sauce sizzle and flip the tofu around to coat them with the sauce. Once it looks like the sauce has reduced significantly, turn off the heat and transfer the tofu to a plate.
Cleaning the saucepan: A thin layer of batter will inevitably stick to the bottom of the pan when you heat it over the stove. That’s why I like heating the batter in a stainless steel saucepan so that it’s easy to soak and scrub during the cleaning process. Once you soak the saucepan in cold water for 30 minutes to an hour, the thin layer of chickpea batter should come off pretty easily.

Nutrition

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