Fried tofu pro#

You can buy these cheaply at dollar stores. If you own a splatter guard it’ll come in handy as well. This doesn’t require any fancy equipment: the bare essentials are a large deep pan and a spatula. You can leave this sitting for half-hour or so if you aren’t ready to eat yet. Sprinkle the cornstarch on a flat surface, then gently roll the tofu around in it until each side is coated. This, along with the salt-water soak, helps give the tofu its beautiful crisp outer layer. Now, we’re ready to coat the tofu in cornstarch. Put your timer on and go put your feet up.Īfter the tofu’s done soaking, drain it well. Your tofu needs to soak for about 15 minutes. Although they were all good, we opted for the regular table salt in the end, as it’s the cheapest and the level of saltiness was right for our palate. We tested various kinds of salt: regular table salt, fine sea salt, and Redmond’s mineral salt. In our bowl (pictured below), the water comes just to the top of the tofu, but doesn’t cover it.

Fried tofu pro#

PRO TIPĭon’t worry if it doesn’t completely cover the tofu. Put the tofu in a shallow bowl and pour the boiling, salted water on it. This salt water soak may seem counterintuitive but it actually helps draw the moisture out of the tofu.įor this recipe, you dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in 2 cups of boiling water. Instead, we soak it in boiling, salted water - a method that’s advocated by sites like Cook’s Illustrated and Serious Eats. Since we’re working with medium tofu for this recipe, pressing it is going to be too destructive. Pressing tofu is a common way to remove some excess moisture.

Cut Tofu into Cubes Soak the Tofu in Salt Water While testing, we ended up with some non uniform pieces and it wasn’t an issue. Don’t worry if you can’t get them perfectly even. We cut them in roughly one-inch cubes, which is a good size for working with and also a perfect size for snacking on. Now that you’ve got your medium firm tofu in hand, the first step is to drain it and then cut it into relatively even-sized cubes. Medium tofu is firm enough to handle but soft enough that when shallow-fried it has a crispy outer shell and a soft, almost eggy inside. It breaks easily and it’s hard to shallow-fry safely. While it does taste good, it’s too difficult to handle. In case you’re wondering if soft tofu might be even better than medium, we did test that initially. You could also use medium-firm, but don’t choose anything firmer than that. You can’t achieve this with extra-firm tofu - it’s just too dense to start with. This tofu has a crispy outer shell and a soft and buttery inside, reminiscent of scrambled eggs. instead of pan-frying the tofu, you shallow fry it in a high-rimmed pot.instead of pressing the tofu to release the water, you soak it in boiling salted water.instead of the frequently-recommended extra firm tofu, this recipe uses medium or medium firm tofu.This tofu recipe is probably a bit different than many others you’ve seen. TL DR – A Summary of Making Salty Crispy Tofu