Fried Tofu

[msphoebe]

At the Asian market I purchased a couple of small packages of fried tofu. I know I've seen recipes for using this stuff, but can't lay my hands on them right now.

I've tried frying tofu myself, and wasn't very successful. The tofu barely browned and seemed to absorb a lot of oil. I served the tofu with stir fried veggies and steamed jasmine rice.

Any suggestions for using or preparing fried tofu would be appreciated.

[Malawry]

Add it to any stir-fry.

Julienne it and put it into spring rolls...or hot and sour soup...or pad thai.

Pan-crisp it and eat it with sweet chili sauce.

You can't go wrong, really.

[Jinmyo]

Rochelle's right.

One thing though: rinse very well with hot water before using to get rid of the excess old oil.

[torakris]

From my eGCI class on soy:

Atsu-age or nama-age are thick blocks of tofu that have been deep fried. They are often served steak like by being first seared in a fry pan then topped with condiments such as grated daikon, scallions and a ponzu or soy sauce dressing. They can also be used in stir-fries, simmered dishes and soups.

lIke Malawry said, they can really be used for anything, this is a very firm tofu that can handle a lot, you any place you might add anothe type of protein.

[RSincere]

I love love love it with peanut sauce!

[andiesenji]

I have a very old sandwich grill, that is an appliance that is like a waffle iron (or a panini grill) but has smooth plates.

I slice extra firm tofu about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick, soak in either teriyaki, barbecue, sweet & sour and mustard sauce or some of each.

I then butter the plates of the sandwich grill, place the "flavored" slices of tofu, lower the top plate and "fry" for a couple of minutes.

These are then incorporated into a sandwich or simply placed on top of green or vegetable salads.

You can also do this with a panini grill if the grids are not too deep.

I have tried to do it in a grill pan but it is difficult to turn to cook the top side. Cooking on both sides at the same time works much better as it firms both sides at the same time.

I also simply slice it, add some seasoning and use brown butter. Nice!

[Malawry]

Oh yeah, Jinmyo is very right about the oil. If you squeeze it in your hands you will probably be able to get a couple drops of oil out of it. Ew, in other words. De-fatting is essential.

I have been known to eat it plain without any condiments, but then I really like tofu in any form.

[Katherine]

I fry my own. The trick is, fresh tofu has too much water to fry as is, you need to press some out of it.

Buy regular or extra firm tofu, slice or cut into cubes, depending on what your dish is. Lay out several sheets of paper towels on a plastic cutting board, put the tofu, cover it with more paper towels, then another cutting board. Put a weight on top of it for about half an hour, removing the soggy paper towels to wring them out once or twice.

Then fry in peanut or other oil at 350º until brown. Rinse in hot water before putting in the dish, as Jinmyo says.

[nwyles]

We crust it with cayenne pepper and coconut mixed with panko flake.

Use an egg wash then bread with coconot mixture.

Deep fry and serve with spicy sauce. I use Thai green curry mixed with mayo.

[tomweir]

You must press fresh tofu first.

I slice it and press it much as Katherine does. I chop it into thin squares. Then I dust it in curry powder and the juice of half a lemon and let it sit for 10 minutes or so.

I shallow-fry in a hot frying pan with a light coat of sunflower oil. it crisps up beautifully and goes a nice yellow-y brown. I add it at the last minute to stirfrys, oil and all, then I douse with the juice of the other lemon half.

edited for typos.

Edited August 22, 2004 by tomweir (log)

[spaghetttti]

Another good way is quite simple: after frying, cut the tofu into quarters, splash with a combination of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and kecap asin (salty soy sauce), add thinly sliced shallots and top with chopped birdseye chile peppers.

Delicious

[msphoebe]

Well, you folks came through again! Thanks for the ideas on using the pre-fried tofu (never thought to rinse the old oil off) and especially the tips for frying my own. Of course! There is so much water in fresh tofu, it makes sense to press some out.

Spaghetttti -- kecap manis...I have a Thai sweet soy (Dragonfly brand) that I think would work well...not sure what country kecap manis comes from?

nwyles -- the cayenne pepper and coconut/panko dredge sounds tasty, too. All staples I keep on hand so will give it a try.

torakris -- I spent a fair amount of time this weekend reading some of the egCI posts...wow what a great source for information! However, I did not see one on soy! Are my middle-aged eyeballs giving out on me? I'd love to read your class AND the Q&A which I've discovered are not only informative, but entertaining in many cases!

Thanks again, everyone.

[torakris]

the soy class can be found here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=44086

[msphoebe]

torakris -- AWESOME!!! Wow!! Thank you so much for posting the link. Great information and I'm psyched to try new ways of preparing / serving tofu.

I just want to thank all of those who contributed their expertise to the eGCI. You all obviously put a lot of time and effort into the articles, and I'm sure many, many of us have gained valuable information that we'd have trouble finding elsewhere in such a concise manner. And the opportunity to ask questions is priceless!

Keep up the great work, it is deeply appreciated.

[chow guy]

I used it yesterday in a Thai Green Curry with eggplant. It worked very well.