Salty Crispy Tofu

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Perfectly salted, crispy on the outside, soft and eggy on the inside, this Salty Crispy Tofu recipe’s 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, this Salty Crispy Tofu makes a fun appetizer or afternoon snack.

TL;DR – A Summary of Making Salty Crispy Tofu

Making Salty Crispy Tofu

This tofu recipe is probably a bit different than many others you’ve seen. The key differences are:

• instead of the frequently-recommended extra firm tofu, this recipe uses medium or medium firm tofu
• instead of pressing the tofu to release the water, you soak it in boiling salted water
• instead of pan-frying the tofu, you shallow fry it in a high-rimmed pot

Let’s walk through these in more detail.

Use Medium Tofu

This tofu has a crispy outer shell and a soft and buttery inside, reminiscent of scrambled eggs. You can’t achieve this with extra-firm tofu — it’s just too dense to start with. Medium tofu does the trick, perfectly. You could also use medium-firm, but don’t choose anything firmer than that. In case you’re wondering if soft tofu might be even better than medium, we did test that initially. While it does taste good, it’s too difficult to handle. It breaks easily and it’s hard to shallow-fry safely.

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

Pressing tofu is a common way to remove some excess moisture. Since we’re working with medium tofu for this recipe, pressing it is going to be too destructive. Instead, we soak it in boiling, salted water — a method that’s advocated by sites like Cook’s Illustrated and Serious Eats.

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.

PRO TIP

Don’t worry if it doesn’t completely cover the tofu. In our bowl (pictured below), the water comes just to the top of the tofu, but doesn’t cover it.

We tested various kinds of salt: regular table salt, fine sea salt, and Redmond’s mineral salt. 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.

Your tofu needs to soak for about 15 minutes. Put your timer on and go put your feet up.

After the tofu’s done soaking, drain it well.

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.

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 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 picture below was about 3 dollars.

To shallow fry the tofu, you 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.

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.

Eating Together Made Easy

This recipe is 100% plant-based so it’s suitable for eaters of all stripes. You might even be able to tempt a non-tofu eater with this one.

Salty Crispy Tofu

Perfectly salted, crispy on the outside and soft and eggy on the inside. This Salty Crispy Tofu would make a fun appetizer or snack. 

5 from 9 votes

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Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American, Chinese

Keyword: crispy tofu, pan-fried tofu, shallow-fried tofu

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Soaking Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 11 minutes

Servings: 4 appetizer size

Calories: 129kcal

Author: sylvia

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. 

Storage and Reheating

This tofu is best served hot and fresh. You can store any leftovers in the fridge, but the tofu will lose its crunch. 

Nutritional Information

Nutritional information is an estimate only. It’s based on half of the amount of oil being absorbed into the tofu. 

Nutrition

Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 8g | Sodium: 3497mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 0.8mg

Fancy it Up with

This tofu is delish all on its own, but if you want to make a dipping sauce to go with it, we recommend Garlicky Chimichurri.

Looking for Some More Snack Food?

• Cheesy-Battered Oven Fries (vegan)
• 3 ingredient Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus (vegan)
• Vegan Spinach Dip
• Spicy Cashew Butter (vegan)

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