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Hello! Can’t believe it’s April already. My first entry for this month of April is my Crispy Golden Fried Tofu Recipe for my 12 Months of Dim Sum Project, the project where I learn about and how to make a specific dim sum dish each month! So far we have Vegan Siomai for January, Instant Pot Congee for February and Vegan Potstickers for March.
I love crispy golden fried tofu! It’s easy to make and you can season it however you want. I like mine relatively plain with just salt and ground black pepper after frying because I enjoy it with dipping sauce that tends to be acidic and spicy so it comes out to a perfect balance.
I started really getting into fried tofu when I adopted my vegan diet. I used to always order pepper salted fish from a local Chinese restaurant here that I mentioned in my Instant Pot Congee post. When we weren’t ordering from the secret menu, we would order pepper salted fish all the time.
The pepper salted fish had a perfectly seasoned golden coating that was just right with the hot, steaming white rice. When I became a vegan, I switched to ordering the pepper salted eggplant instead which was actually quite similar. While I still like the pepper salted eggplant today, I have started to favor the tofu version because I rely on it for protein.
Fried tofu is called zhà dòufu in Mandarin. Say it with me: ja! – dough! – foo
This crispy golden fried tofu recipe I am sharing today was adapted from Kirbie’s Cravings. I’m grateful she had her recipe up because she had some wonderful tips!
So this is how we make our crispy golden fried tofu:
We start off with two blocks of tofu and drain the heck out of them by placing them in between two plates with a heavy object on top.
While that sits for half an hour, we’re going to combine the cornstarch, white pepper and teaspoon of salt in a bowl and mix.
We then add that cornstarch mix to a large freezer bag and set it aside. When it’s been 20 minutes of draining, we discard the rest of the water in the sink again and then use paper towels to wrap snugly around the tofu blocks like this:
It should be dry like this and we start cutting at this point from left to right (or right to left depending on your dominant hand) so that there’s a top half and bottom half for each block.
Then we continue cutting until we get smaller blocks like below. I pretty much just cut each section in half until the blocks are of the desired size. No worries if it isn’t perfect.
Once we have our 1-inch-ish blocks, we add them to the food storage bag that has the cornstarch mix waiting.
So this next part is important: We are not going to shake roughly or even really shake much at all. Tofu is still tofu – it’s delicate even if it’s firm. Or maybe I’m just a wuss.
To evenly coat the tofu we are going to spread the tofu inside by gently moving the tofu back and forth until we create only one layer of it within the bag. Then we carefully flip the bag over a few times in different directions until all the pieces are evenly coated.
Once we have our evenly coated pieces, we just fry them up until all the sides are a light golden brown. We try to not overcrowd the pan.
Tip: Use a flipper to scrape any sticky, crispy bottoms. To actually flip the tofu though to cook all sides, use chopsticks as they allow for more control than tongs do.
When the tofu is done, drain on paper towels for about a minute before moving to a serving plate.
Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with a dipping sauce with a 3:2:1 ratio of light soy sauce, distilled white vinegar and chili oil.
Enjoy!
12 Months of Dim Sum Recipes:
January 2021: Vegan Siomai
February 2021: Instant Pot Congee
March 2021: Vegan Potstickers with Ginger Scallion Tofu
April 2021: Crispy Golden Fried Tofu
May 2021: Toasted Cumin Scallion Pancakes
June 2021: Gluten-Free Asian Dipping Sauce
July 2021: Sweet Red Bean Paste and Perfectly Golden Sesame Balls
PrintCrispy Golden Fried Tofu
This is an easy recipe for crispy, golden fried tofu that requires only 7 ingredients. Naturally vegan.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 40
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dim Sum
- Method: Pan-fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 24 ounces firm tofu (or two 12 oz tofu blocks)
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- kosher salt for seasoning
- fresh ground black peppercorn for seasoning
Instructions
- Drain the tofu by placing both blocks on top of a large plate with another large plate on top. With one hand under the bottom plate and the other hand over the top, secure the tofu in place and tilt the plates with the tofu in between to drain the excess water into the sink. Set the plates and tofu down with the second plate still on top.
- Place a heavy object such as a cast iron pan or a heavy pot on top to squeeze out more water. Let sit for half an hour.
- While the tofu is draining, add the cornstarch, salt and white pepper to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Add to a large, sealable food storage bag.
- When the tofu has reached 20 minutes of draining in the plate, discard the newly extracted water in the sink again. Then use a paper towel to snugly wrap around each block of tofu to remove the even more water. This takes less than a minute. When removing the paper towels, the tofu should be significantly drier than before.
- Cut each block of tofu into squares, one at a time. Start by slicing through the middle sideways so that you have a top half and bottom half. Then cut down in the middle lengthwise and then again in the middle crosswise. Then keep cutting the bigger pieces into halves until you get about 1” almost-cubes. It won’t be perfect but that’s all right. Close to perfect is just right!
- Add the tofu pieces to the food storage bag with the cornstarch mix. Spread out the tofu by gently shaking the bag so that there is only one layer inside. Then flip the bag carefully a few times until all the pieces are coated with the tofu.
- Heat a large frying pan to medium high heat and when hot, add vegetable oil.
- When oil is hot, add tofu pieces to the pan in one layer. Make sure to not crowd the pan. You will fry in batches.
- Let sit for 2-3 minutes until the bottom is golden. It might stick so use a spatula to remove it. But to flip over, use chopsticks. Tongs tend to be too big for these pieces and chopsticks allow for more control. Fry the pieces until all the sides are a light golden color.
- Drain the tofu on a paper towel on a plate for a minute before moving to a serving plate. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
- Serve with a simple dipping sauce such as a 3:2:1 mix of light soy sauce, white vinegar and chili oil!
Notes
- Do not save because fried leftovers are gross. Sorry.
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Some other tofu recipes:
