Perfectly salted, crispy on the outside, soft and eggy on the inside, this Salty Crispy Tofu is going to change the way you think of tofu. Shallow-fried with minimal oil, you’ll want to eat these crunchy, bite-sized treats right out of the pan. Whether you devour them all by yourself, or share them with friends or family, Salty Crispy Tofu makes a fun appetizer or afternoon snack. Or make it part of a meal with these fabulously flexible Buddha Bowls.
TLDR
What's different about this tofu recipe?
This tofu recipe may be quite different than many others you’ve seen. The key differences are:
Ingredients
This recipe uses just four ingredients:
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.
The Steps in Detail
This recipe is easy to make once you're familiar with the steps.
Cut Tofu Into Cubes
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. We cut them in roughly one-inch cubes, which is a good size for working with and also a perfect size for snacking on. Don’t worry if you can’t get them perfectly even. While testing, we ended up with some non uniform pieces and it wasn’t an issue.
Soak the Tofu in Salt Water
For this recipe, you dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in 2 cups of boiling water. Put the tofu in a shallow bowl and pour the boiling, salted water on it. Don’t worry if it doesn’t completely cover the tofu. In our bowl, the water comes just to the top of the tofu, but doesn’t cover it.
Your tofu needs to soak for about 15 minutes. Put your timer on and go put your feet up.
This salt water soak may seem counterintuitive but it actually helps draw the moisture out of the tofu.
After the tofu’s done soaking, drain off the salt water and pat the tofu dry with a tea towel.
Choosing Salt
We tested various kinds of salt:
- table salt
- fine sea salt
- Redmond’s mineral salt
They all worked well, but we opted for the table salt in the end, as it’s the cheapest and the level of saltiness was right for our palate. Use whatever salt you prefer.
Coat the Tofu in Cornstarch
Now, we’re ready to coat the tofu in cornstarch. This, along with the salt-water soak, helps give the tofu its beautiful crisp outer layer. Sprinkle the cornstarch on a flat surface, then gently roll the tofu around in it until each side is coated.
Now the tofu is ready for frying. You can leave this sitting for half-hour or so if you aren’t ready to eat yet. The tofu tastes best when it's freshly made.
Shallow-Fry the Tofu
The final step is shallow-frying. This doesn’t require any fancy equipment: the bare essentials are a large deep pan and a slotted spatula. If you own a splatter guard it’ll come in handy as well. You can buy these cheaply at dollar stores. In Canada, the one pictured below was about 3 dollars.
To shallow fry the tofu, add a thin layer of neutral-flavoured oil to the pot, just barely covering the bottom of the pot. The amount will depend on the size of your pot. With a 9-inch diameter pot, we used 3 tablespoons of oil. Don’t panic, all of this oil does not get absorbed.
Only about half of the oil gets absorbed by the tofu — that’s about one tablespoon and a half of oil for the entire recipe.
Turn the heat to medium high. Once the oil is sizzling, drop the tofu cubes in the pan. If you’ve got a splatter guard put that on top. Let the tofu fry for about 4 minutes, until golden brown on one side. Then flip the tofu over and fry it for another 2 minutes, until golden brown.
Drain the Tofu
The final step is to drain the tofu on something absorbent, such as a tea towel or paper towel. It’s ready to eat, but be careful it’s hot.
This is totally yummy as is, but it’s also delicious dipped into something herbaceous and garlicky, like chimichurri.
Visual Overview: Making Salty Crispy Tofu
Tips: Tofu Basics
Tofu is made from soy and is a good source of protein and other nutrients.
There are many different kinds of tofu, including: soft, silken, medium, medium-firm, extra firm. The difference is in the water content, with soft tofu having the most water and extra firm the least.
Different types of tofu are suitable for different recipes. For example, soft or silken tofu is often used for desserts or to thicken drinks and sauces.
While tofu may look raw, it's actually cooked. The process starts with soybeans, which are "soaked, boiled, and made into soy milk." This soy milk is then cooked and a thickening agent (often calcium sulfate) is added. It may then undergo further processing, such as pressing and pasteurization. The process for making tofu is similar to cheese-making. Watch Cheese and Tofu: Curds in Common for a great explanation of this.
Tofu can be eaten plain right out of the package (drain it first), but it's more typically eaten cooked and seasoned, as it's relatively bland on its own.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Salty Crispy Tofu
Ingredients
- 250 grams medium tofu
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil {See Recipe Notes. The amount of oil will depend on the size of the pot. Also, about half of the oil is absorbed, the rest remains in the pan.}
Instructions
- Drain the tofu and slice it into 1 inch cubes. Put the tofu in a shallow bowl, large enough to hold the tofu and 2 cups of water.
- Boil the water and dissolve the salt in it. Pour over the tofu and let it sit for 15 minutes, then drain the water off.
- Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch on a flat surface. Roll the tofu cubes in the cornstarch. Add more cornstarch as needed.
- In a high-sided pot, add enough oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Put the heat on medium high and when it's hot, add the tofu cubes. Fry on one side for 4 minutes, and then flip over and fry on the other for 2 minutes.
- Remove the tofu and place it on a cloth or paper towel to absorb the oil.
- Enjoy while hot!
Notes
Key Tips
- use medium tofu, or medium firm
- use a neutral-flavoured oil that can withstand high heat
- use enough oil to just cover the bottom of your pan. I used 3 tablespoons of oil for a 9 inch diameter pan. Only about half of the oil is absorbed.
- make sure the oil is sizzling before you add the tofu cubes. If the oil is not hot enough, the tofu might absorb more oil than necessary.
Yummy VEGAN ..
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
Hi! Do you think this recipe would be feasible in an air fryer?
Hi Krysta! I haven’t used an air fryer so I’m really not sure, but it would be worth a try. Perhaps just halve the recipe to test? I did try baking them in a 450F oven, without oil, and they weren’t bad – I had them in for about 10 minutes.
I didn’t try making this with the air fryer yet but my bf and I loved it baked!! I’ll try it in the air fryer soon and report back.
Hi Krysta! Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m so glad you liked it! And I’d love the update on the air fryer too.
Thanks again,
Sylvia
Fantastic!!! Soft and crunchy – and delicious!?
Thank you, Veronika! So glad you liked it!
yummy
Thanks! Much appreciated!
now i’ll have to try both – baked and fried, really look forward to it
Thanks Dorit! I hope you enjoy both versions!
So, I just did the fried version – left out the corn starch – and WE LOVE IT!!! I’m having so much fun trying your recipes. So happy you started this. And your photos are amazing!!!!
Dorit – thanks so much for reporting back! I’m so curious about NO cornstarch – hadn’t even thought of that! Thank you for being so supportive!
Amazing! Cheap, easy and yummy! ??
Thank you! So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Fantastic! I have always used extra firm tofu, but the medium makes it so crisp on the outside and yummy on the inside! The kids loved it!
Thank you! I’m so happy to hear it was a hit with you and the kids! Medium tofu is definitely the way to go!
hey question!! after i soak the tofu in the boiling water could i put it in a bag of marinade before cooking?
Good question! I haven’t tried that but it would be worth experimenting with. After the marinade step though, you would need a way to remove the moisture again before shallow frying it. So you’d have to pat it dry at the very least and I am ot sure how much marinade flavour would be left over. I think I would be tempted to make a sauce instead of a marinade and then just dip the tofu in it if you like. The tofu is delicious all on its own though.
I’m picky with tofu, but this one is a hit, without fail! It’s so easily tweaked and ALWAYS turns out just right. I never use the cornstarch, and keep using different oils to change the flavours a bit – adding roasted sesame, or toasted pumpkin oil to the coconut oil, and sometimes i add sesame seeds. Figured I try it as dessert – your brown butter and a bit of coconut sugar over top – hallelujah 🙂
Wow – sounds like you’ve made some great tweaks! Brilliant!
just can’t get enough of this recipe!!!
Thank you! We love it too!
This is an excellent method. We mix cayenne pepper and sichuan pepper into the cornstarch and use the fried tofu in a vegan La Zi chicken dish, it’s awesome!
Thank you!The spices sounds yummy!
I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical with such a simple recipe, but this was really good! Will definitely make again.
Thank you, Lynn! So happy you enjoyed it. Would love it if you could choose a star rating, as that really helps other people find the recipe.
This tofu turned out amazing! I normally don't enjoy tofu but now this has me CRAVING it. One question: can it be baked?
Hi Diana! Thanks so much! I have not thoroughly tested baking it but I did try at 450F for about 10 minutes, no oil, and it was good. It’s been awhile since I did that so I am not sure how crispy it turned out. Definitely worthy a try though. If you are concerned about the oil, I have measured the oil after the tofu is done and the entire recipe absorbs only about 1 tablespoon of oil. I appreciate the review!