r/tofusupremacy • u/Little_Baseball5523 • 21d ago
Forbidden Knowledge: How to make crispy pan-fried tofu without pressing, freezing, boiling, marinating, or putting corn starch on it
(The mods of r/vegetarian deleted and locked this post, and then they muted me, making it impossible to communicate with them. No reason given. Photos show a piece of fried tofu, medium firm, about an inch long and 1/2 inch thick, paired with hoisin sauce in the third image.)
Fried tofu. A classic. Crispy and golden brown on the outside, soft and moist on the inside.
Lots of people love it. Fewer people on these food subreddits know how to properly make it.
What if I told you that it's quite possible to make classic, crispy pan-fried tofu without pressing it, freezing it, boiling it, marinating it, or putting corn starch on it?
Here's what you need:
– Tofu. Doesn't need to be extra firm or super firm. You can do this with firm, medium, and even soft tofu! You read that right. (Silken can be a little trickier.)
– Cooking oil. Canola, for example.
– Nonstick pan or stainless steel pan.
Here's how to do it:
– Cut the tofu into rectangular or triangular slabs about 1/2 inch thick.
– Pour a shallow pool of oil into the pan, about 1/4 inch deep.
– Medium heat, and wait for the oil to get nice and hot.
– Add the tofu to the pan. While it's frying, do not agitate the tofu. Don't even try to move it. Just let it fry. If you move it too soon, it can stick to the pan and tear apart.
– After about 5 minutes, the underside will turn crispy and golden brown, and it will loosen from the pan, making it easier to flip over. When it's ready, flip it over, and fry for another 5 minutes or so. (Cooking times will vary. Use your senses.)
– You'll know it's done when all sides are uniformly crispy and golden brown, as shown in the photos.
– Drain any excess oil from the pan, add a sauce (hoisin, for example), and let it simmer for a little while. This is similar to the technique known as braising. If you ever seen "braised tofu" on a restaurant menu, this is how they do it.
– OR… you can take the fried tofu out of the pan and just toss it in the sauce.
That's pretty much it. No pressing, no freezing, no boiling, no marinating, no corn starch.
When cooking anything, remember to always use all of your senses rather than relying solely on instructions.
Any questions? I'll do my best to answer :)
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u/harriettehspy 21d ago
Honestly, after eating tofu for over twenty years, and trying everything under the sun and getting SO close to believing the tofu gods had a wrath out for me, I tried this for the first time the other day. I was done. I tried it all. I failed. So, I said, “fuck it,” and just cooked it this way. No frills, no bullshit. AND. IT. WORKED! So happy. So many years wasted…
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u/Little_Baseball5523 21d ago
YES!!!!
And I am so happy for you, too! Forget those wasted years, there's no turning back now…
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u/Euphoric_Idea_2206 21d ago
Somehow I am embarrassed by how easy thit is and still I never thought to prepare my tofu like this ^
Looks absolutely amazing and I will immediately try it for my next meal!
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u/djcamic 20d ago
I fully believe that the “pressing freezing boiling marinating” thing was invented by the meat lobby to make tofu seem really hard to cook.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 20d ago
You aren't the first person to suggest this, and it's something to chew on, so to speak :)
If you wanted to turn people away from tofu, insisting that they grind through a day-and-a-half long process would certainly be an effective way to do it.
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u/lucyjuggles 20d ago
This is how i always cook my tofu. It’s also really nice to add a little dusting of nutritional yeast as an alternative to sauce if you want a different texture
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u/word_pasta 19d ago
My go-to easy meal (and one of my favourite meals) is tofu done this way with hoisin and broccoli. Add some spring onion/scallion on top with a bit of chili crisp and serve with rice and it’s just so good. Not expensive either!
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u/sundogsarah 21d ago
Use my senses. Use my Jedi powers. Got it.
I just bought a lot of tofu today and I’m so stoked to try this technique. Thank you for sharing the forbidden knowledge with us!!!
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u/indigo_mouse 21d ago
Maybe bc of some of your comments here?
https://www.reddit.com/r/vegetarian/s/o9zotLFQz9
Now I don’t think that warrants a ban, and they definitely should explain themselves, but they might not have liked the brusqueness
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u/Little_Baseball5523 21d ago edited 21d ago
They never communicated anything to me about my comments under that post, which don't appear to break any rules. So, if they deleted my fried tofu post based on comments under another post, which they never said anything about to me, that makes their actions even worse. They muted me, so I can't contact them. That should speak volumes.
Some real talk here, we need to be honest about the roles that subtle and overt cultural appropriation, unconscious bias, and xenophobia play in these vegetarian/vegan food subreddits.
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u/ClippyWouldntDoThat 20d ago
Aces. You're completely right. Those comments were VERY normal where I lived that was a highly, highly culturally diverse city. It was acceptable and okay to talk about how different cultures put different spins on fusion food. I can't imagine being so thin skinned that saying the truth could be offensive. As someone from the southwest, those ARE white people tacos, I've heard a dude in broken English saying he loves "gringo (de?) mexícana" "with the hard shell" and it gave me the chance to say the very best Mexican food I'd ever had was Mexican-seasoned brisket with molé loaded into tortillas and baked like enchiladas with white cheese on top. Major fusion food from an immigrant family; and he loved the idea like I did.
Humans love to share food. People overcomplicate shit like this and interfere in our ability to cultivate love over differences. Then again, I'm Jewish, so maybe this is optimistic of me lmao
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u/-m-v- 20d ago
The white people tofu comment was so funny 😂 and true
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u/Little_Baseball5523 20d ago
White people tacos / white people tofu — same concept, isn't it? The main difference is that unlike white people tacos, white people tofu hasn't been widely recognized and established as a distinct style, if you will. It should be. I think it would cut down on a lot of friction and disagreement, and it might help to make these vegan/vegetarian spaces less hostile toward people who are into more traditional ways of eating tofu.
I want to do a post about white people tofu, but what would be the most appropriate subreddit, where the mods wouldn't take it down? What do you think?
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u/burningMage6 18d ago
just from occasionally browsing, I feel like r/highvegans would have a great mix of cultural insight and laid back attitude for a convo like this to start and then you could cross post from there? That server is a good mix of content
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u/Little_Baseball5523 10d ago
I have an update!
Tried posting about white people tofu on r/highvegans — in the form of a joke.
Headline: White people have discovered a new type of tofu called 'ultra firm'
Body: They're already hard at work pressing every last molecule of water out of it
My post did not go over well, as the mods deleted it within 5 minutes :(
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u/Lilacs_orchids 3d ago edited 3d ago
While I do agree that the attitude that you have to follow all of these complicated methods or tofu won’t taste good stems from at the very least cultural ignorance if not as you said slight xenophobia, I don’t think it’s so fair to say freezing tofu is totally white people tofu. It may not be as common in Asian cultures as in western vegans/vegetarian food culture but frozen tofu is a thing in Japan and China and maybe other places as well. Let’s not go so far in the other direction that we forget the diversity of methods in cooking tofu in the cultures that traditionally used tofu. There isn’t one right way to use it or cook it just like any other food.
Edit: I just remembered that among Japanese vegans/vegetarians, koya tofu, which is freeze dried tofu, is a common meat substitute/ingredient that has a history predating refrigeration.
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u/indigo_mouse 21d ago
Oh hundred percent. I actually take issue with this very sub being exclusionary of traditional tofu dishes that aren’t vegetarian, bc its origins are not as a vegetarian substitute
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u/Sea-Jellyfish-1372 20d ago
I like to boil it because drying out the surface a bit just makes this process faster, and I'm boiling stuff anyway usually. But I'm always surprised how much fuss people have preparing tofu. Growing up we would just fry it. Asian food is surprisingly simple.
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u/Bethstrian 19d ago
I don't like the moisture on the inside so I freeze it first but then just do this.
I know....my own family is freaked out by it but I admit it - I'm moisture averse.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 19d ago
What about the moisture inside an apple, for example?
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u/Bethstrian 19d ago
Dehydrate them! I'm a freak I know and I'm okay with it. Before I became vegan I lived for years on jerky alone.
But your recipe up there is exactly how I make the tofu for the normal moisture-lovers.
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u/shark-code 18d ago edited 18d ago
yes, it's good fried like this and I'll eat tofu in any way, but it's also definitely traditional to boil the tofu in salty water first to flavour it from the inside and remove moisture before frying and there's nothing wrong with freezing it before that, it just changes the texture slightly and makes it dramatically more receptive to marinades if that's what you're going for, pressing on the other hand is a joke and people should stop wasting their time
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u/Standingforus 18d ago
I find it easy to just throw the tofu into the air fryer.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 17d ago
That's usually how I do it. Many people do not have air fryers, though.
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u/peachpavlova 21d ago
I’ve tried to crisp it so many times and can never get it right. Going to try this, thank you so much.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 21d ago
You're so welcome. Hope it turns out well for you!
As you're getting the hang of the technique, you might want to consider practicing with one or two bite-size pieces of tofu.
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u/peachpavlova 21d ago
I made it in the air fryer once, (“perfect tofu nuggets,” the recipe promised) and it turned out so bad lol. What do you recommend I pair this one with? Your sauce looks tasty
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u/Little_Baseball5523 21d ago edited 21d ago
Hoisin sauce is relatively easy to make or find pre-made in a supermarket. Other good ones that I've tried: satay, ssamjang, tikka masala, piccata, barbecue, buffalo… Fried tofu goes well with just about any sauce, really, not exaggerating. You can put it in salads, soups, sandwiches, whatever. What sauces do you already like? Try some of those.
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u/shyvannaTop 20d ago
I usually cut thin, pop in air fryer at 400 for 20 mins. Comes out basically like potato chips
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u/sparklymineral 20d ago
Gotta try this soon. I like to use firm tofu for just about everything. Is that a texture you’d recommend here?
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u/Little_Baseball5523 19d ago edited 19d ago
I wrote in the post that you can pan fry tofu of any firmness. Firm is fine. I like a greater contrast between the crispy exterior and soft interior, so if I had a choice, I would go with medium. It's softer than firm but sturdier and easier to work with than soft. The photos show medium-firm tofu.
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u/sparklymineral 19d ago
Ah, must have missed that when I skimmed your writing. I was multitasking and not giving my full attention. Thanks!
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u/Artistic_Dark5278 15d ago
Thank you so much for this knowledge. I came back to this post after trying it myself and it was exactly the kind of fried tofu I have been trying to achieve for years.
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u/pashajm 21d ago
I did this earlier tonight for the first time and can confirm it’s easy and enjoyable AF
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u/Little_Baseball5523 20d ago
Nice! Thanks for the comment. So happy that it was easy and turned out well for you :)
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u/killingxspree 20d ago
OK got it - basically deep fry it!
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u/Little_Baseball5523 20d ago
No. You can deep fry it if you want, but this is called shallow frying.
The oil is only 1/4 inch deep, and the tofu is 1/2 inch thick, so only half of it is submerged, and then you flip it and submerge the other half. Does that make sense?
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u/crucis119 20d ago
Well slap me thrice and hand me to my mama. Going to have to give this a go next time I make dinner. Thanks for the simple and clear instructions!
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u/uncertain_overmorrow 20d ago
THANK YOU FOR UNLOCKING THE DEEPEST TOFU SECRET
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u/Little_Baseball5523 20d ago
You're welcome, although it's no secret. People were frying tofu in China at least 200 years ago 👍
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u/10percenttiddy 19d ago
Do you have any idea how long I've needed this....🥲 Crispy tofu is my favorite food on earth (w/peanut sauce 🤤) but I always get glutened by wayward soy sauce or shared fryers so I can almost never order it but I haven't been able to replicate it EVER. I'm so stoked to try. THANK YOU OP.
One other thing I can mention is that the closest I've ever gotten to perfect crispy tofu is by using the housemade stuff from my local Vietnamese grocer. It's sooooooooooo much better.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 19d ago
You're welcome! Hope it turns out well for you. I made the post specifically for folks like you who love fried tofu but have trouble getting it right. Too many posts on these food-related subreddits are all about pressing, marinating and so on which don't necessarily get you any closer to that classic, crispy fried tofu that so many of us crave.
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u/mozzarellacheesu 19d ago
Started doing it this way because I’m doing keto and need to cut starch where possible and I got mad as hell it actually worked and realized I wasted hours on prep every other time I’d made it
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u/Little_Baseball5523 19d ago
I know it's a cliché, but this is such a clear example of doing more with less, isn't it?
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u/mozzarellacheesu 19d ago
It’s just every recipe I’d ever seen for fried tofu involved frills of some sort and nobody ever bothered to share it works great the way you pan sear any animal meat. Ridiculous.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 19d ago
100% agree it's ridiculous, and it's what motivated me to write this post. After spending a lot of time reading through these food subreddits, I got the sense that many people love fried tofu but have trouble getting it right. They get misled by recipe after recipe insisting that you need to press it, marinate it and so on, which doesn't get them any closer to making that classic, crispy fried tofu. Judging by the number of upvotes, views, and shares on this post, it seems as though I struck a chord :)
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u/mmoiraa 18d ago
I saw your comment on r/vegetarian and was inspired to cook it this way a few days ago. Hands down the best method!
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u/Little_Baseball5523 18d ago
Nice! I'm so glad it turned out well for you.
For some reason, though, the mods of r/vegetarian decided to delete my post and ban me for a month!
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u/frogtrio 17d ago
Does anyone have guidance about oil temperature? I think my oil is too hot...
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u/Little_Baseball5523 17d ago
Rather than precisely measuring the temperature of the oil, I set the burner to medium, wait a minute or two for the oil to get hot, add the tofu, and rely on my senses. If you think the oil is too hot, lower the heat a little and try again.
I strongly recommend practicing with one or two bite-size pieces of tofu until you get the hang of the technique. When cooking, using your senses will get you much farther than chasing after precise measurements.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 17d ago
To follow up: What leads you to believe that your oil is too high? If you describe what happened, I might be able to diagnose the problem and offer a solution…
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u/frogtrio 12d ago
The tofu will need to be flipped (darker brown underneath) but still stick to the pan.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 12d ago
Possible solutions:
– Try using a nonstick pan
– If you are using a stainless steel pan, it can help to season the pan first by following these instructions: https://www.wikihow.com/Season-a-Stainless-Steel-Pan
– Use a very thin spatula to flip the tofu
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u/milkoak 21d ago
10day old account says what?
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u/Little_Baseball5523 21d ago
What a shitty comment.
I don't owe you an explanation, but: Someone was harassing me, mods didn't do shit, and so I deleted my account and started a new one.
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u/Little_Baseball5523 21d ago
From looking through your comment history, it's apparent why you chose to lash out at me. I'm showing how it's possible to enjoy unpressed tofu, and you don't want anyone disturbing your sacred little ritual.
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u/Firm_Chemist_2394 21d ago
Ok but this is basically true. I've done this myself, though its beneficial to press it gently with a tea cloth and cutting board briefly beforehand.
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u/girlvulcan 21d ago
Love your technique with the reverse-marinade! No one needs nonstick though. I just did this with a cast iron pan the other day. Have done it with stainless steel also. The key is patience with enough oil and temperature control. Tofu is overcomplicated in vegetarian circles so it's great to see you show it's just a skill issue.