The Fundamentals of Fried Tofu
Tofu gets a bad reputaion for being... well, awful. Which is unfortunate because it is so often prepared incorrectly. Tofu is not meat. It will not look like meat. It will not taste like meat. It will not marinade like meat. It will not cook like meat. So, please, pretty please!?? Stop treating it like meat! Because tofu is absolutely delicious, far more nutritious, and significantly less artificial ingredient-packed than most "vegan" substitutes. I almost always have tofu in the fridge. It's simple to make and can easily be tossed into burritos, baked into curries, or used to top off salads.
Equipment
- Skillet
- Stove
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
- 1 lbs tofu firm or extra firm
- 2 tbsp. high heat oil
Instructions
- Drain the tofu and cut in half if you're using a container. Wrap in paper towels to absorb the moisture.It's important to absorb as much water out of the tofu as you can. Oil is less dense than water, so the molecules repel one another. With cold ingredients, this causes separation. When you're frying, though, this can cause boiling hot oil to spray back at you.
- Meanwhile, preheat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the skillet has preheated and the majority of the water has absorbed into the paper towels, carefully add the tofu to the skillet. Fry until golden brown. This should take about 2-4 minutes. Rotate until all sides are evenly fried.
- For tofu steak, this is as far as you need to go.If you want smaller pieces of tofu, I tend to cook the entire piece as a cube and then cut it up. This keeps the inside of the tofu from drying out too rapidly and becoming shriveled and chewy.So, after this stage, simply cut the tofu into strips or cubes and continue to cook the remaining sides.
- Remove from heat.It's optional to wrap again in a paper towels to absorb any excess oil if you're putting it in a dish that doesn't do well with additional oil, like soup and curry.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- It’s important to use a high heat oil when frying the tofu. You can use olive oil, but it burns at a lower temperature and will start to smoke. I prefer avocado, vegetable, or sesame oil, but any higher heat oil like canola or corn will work as well.
- If your tofu is cooking in less than 2 minutes, it runs the risk of burning. Decrease the temperature. If your tofu is cooking in more than 4 minutes, it can get tough. Increase the temperature. Ideally, the tofu will be golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside.
- Also softer forms of tofu will break apart. If you want vegan scrambled eggs? This is perfect. Just note that anything other than firm or extra firm tofu will likely not cube in any reasonable way, shape, or form!