Cubes of tofu are coated in potato starch, deep fried and dusted with my Sichuan Dry Chilli Mix.
Don’t expect the cubes of tofu to be as crispy as a good fried chicken although there are enough bits of “crispy” on the tofu. Expect instead, a fried thin coat of potato starch that serves to better hold the dusting of Sichuan Dry Chilli Mix.
After numerous experiments, I have found that coating the tofu cubes with potato starch (not potato flour) will yield the texture that I like. You can certainly use cornstarch, all-purpose/plain flour or a mix of both. It comes down to personal preference.
In coming up with this recipe, I had experimented with coating tofu cubes with (1)self-raising flour (2)all-purpose/plain flour (with and without the addition of baking powder) (3)cornstarch (4)potato starch and (5)a combination of cornstarch and potato starch (with and without the addition of baking powder). My least favourite where the ones coated with self-raising flour or all-purpose/plain flour. Too gummy. I found that cornstarch had a tendency to fall away from the tofu cubes when it hit hot oil and they weren’t as good as potato starch in getting bits of “crispy” around the tofu cube. However, in a pinch, I would choose to use cornstarch over the gluten flours.
You can season fried tofu with whatever creative tastes you can come up with. I suggest that these seasonings be in a powdered form so that you can better keep the texture of the fried tofu. Scroll to the bottom of my post and look under my “Tips” section for other seasoning ideas.
Deep Fried Tofu Coated With Sichuan Dry Chilli Mix
| Prep: | ~5 minutes |
| Cook: | <4 minutes (per batch of frying) |
| Inactive: | ~10 minutes and up to overnight to drain tofu (refrigerate) |
| Level: | Moderate: This recipe will not keep your kitchen mess-free 😉 The recipe appears easy enough but you need practise to know when to cook the tofu just enough. |
| Serves: | ~2 – 3 persons as a side dish with a rice or noodle based meal |
| Oven Temperature: | – |
| Can recipe be doubled? | Yes |
| Make ahead? | No |
Ingredients1 cup =8.45 US fl oz =250ml To season fried tofu 1 block ~10.5oz (300g)” medium-firm” or “firm” tofu* * The variety of tofu is wide and the labelling for how “firm” or “soft” a block of tofu is varies widely. So what kind should you use? I prefer tofu with a medium-firm texture for this recipe. It should not be a soft variety (such as “silken tofu”) as those fall apart very easily and are meant for steaming or for soups. For easier handling, use a “firm” or “very firm” variety as this tofu will hold it shape even with rough handling but I much prefer the softer texture and flavour of a “medium-firm” tofu. It will hold its shape most times upon handling and slicing. Just use extra care and you will be fine. It breaks on me sometimes, but it’s not a big deal. I just work around it. |
Method
Before you start…
1. Choose a frying vessel that can hold ~3/4″(2cm) of oil and that will fit all the cubes of tofu without over crowding the vessel. It needs to be fairly deep so that there is no risk of oil overspilling. If you do not have such a vessel, you would have to split the frying.
2. Know that you need only a light coating of potato starch on tofu cubes.
3. If you are using “firm” or “very firm” tofu (for more on “firmness” of tofu, read the subtext under my Ingredient list), the process will go much easier for you as “firm or very firm” tofu have lower water content and will therefore be firmer and less likely to break on handling.
4. If you are using, “medium-firm” tofu which I prefer to use for both its texture and flavour, be careful when handling it.
5. Only coat tofu with potato starch, when (1) the oil is hot enough (2) you are ready to coat tofu with the starch and (3) drop them immediately into hot oil. Do not let starch-coated tofu (especially tofu that aren’t at least firm in texture) sit in starch for any period of time. Why? You will get one claggy mess! Left to sit, the tofu will continue to weep liquid, the damp tofu will start to stick to your holding vessel, cubes of tofu might start to stick to each other if you had not placed them far enough from each other and the cubes of tofu might start to break as you try to pry the sticky tofu away from each other and the holding vessels, … not fun at all.
Dry up tofu
1. Use several sheets of paper kitchen towels to wrap up tofu.
2. Sit wrapped tofu on plate. You can choose to place a slight weight over it such as a small plate. Not too heavy or you might break the tofu. The weight serves to help draw out more liquid from tofu.
3. Sit the tofu for at least ~10 minutes. Sit longer if the variety you are using is more waterlogged. Change out kitchen paper towels if necessary.
4. Wrapped tofu can be refrigerated overnight if not using straight away.
Heat oil up and prep your cooling/wire rack and tray
1. These tofu needs to be fried at high temperatures so that the coating will stick and crisp up.
2. Turn on heat to medium -medium high, to get the oil to 356F (180)C. If you don’t own a thermometer, it is time to get one. If not, rely on the not so reliable method of sticking wooden chopsticks or the straight end of a wooden spoon into the hot oil. If it bubbles immediately, the oil is hot enough.
3. Fried tofu will need to be drained on a cooling rack placed over a tray to catch oil drips. Do not set fried tofu on paper towels as they will stick! Place rack and tray next to stove.
Slice tofu into cubes only when ready to cook
1. Handle tofu gently.
2. Cut into cubes. What size? Refer to my feature image.
3. Set it by the stove.
Ready to cook? Mix up potato starch, salt and pepper
1. Mix up potato starch, salt and pepper in a shallow tea cup or a small bowl.
2. Set it by the stove next to the cubed tofu.
Take caution before frying
You will be working with hot oil and to keep from burning yourself, I suggest:
1. You do not fill the frying vessel with more than my recommended amount of oil: ~3/4″ (2cm). The deeper the oil, the bigger chance of an oil backsplash.
2. Work on one cube of tofu at a time. Coat tofu cube with starch and slide immediately into hot oil – slide it gently and closer to the surface of the oil. If you drop it from too great a height, you are more likely to get a backsplash of hot oil. You can also use a pair of chopsticks or tongs to help you.
3. To further reduce any possible backsplash of hot oil on me, I use the tea cup (filled with the potato starch mixture) as a shield as I drop tofu in oil.
Let’s start frying
1. Ensure the oil has reached 356F (180C). Use a thermometer. Know that the tofu will cook fairly quickly, ~2 minutes or less. If the oil, has heated up too much, turn off the heat and let the temperature get down to 356F (180C).
2. Follow through with process outlined above. Make a mental note of which tofu cube went in first. Fill the vessel of hot oil with starch coated tofu until it is ~85% full. Do not overcrowd and do not touch the tofu for ~1 minute. Why? They would be too delicate to touch at this point. You have to give the starch some time to cook and form a crust around the tofu cubes. If you need to move the tofu around, you can gently shake the pan.
3. Check on the first cube of tofu that you had put in. If it has expanded slightly, feel it with your frying slice. If it feels firm enough for you to flip it over, then do so. Repeat the process with the rest of the tofu.
4. Once the tofu have been turned, it would take ~1 minute or so for that turned side to firm up too. You might see spots of light yellow – a clear indication to take out the tofu. I also feel the tofu with my tongs, if they feel firm to the touch, out they go. Do not over fry as they might turn tough.
5. Transfer to cooling rack.
Refry tofu
1. Increase temperature a few notches up. Heat oil until you see a slight smokey haze above oil, you want the oil hotter. I measured my oil temperature at this point and it read ~392F (200C).
2. Return all tofu cubes into oil or as many as you can fit into pan without overcrowding. Be careful as the oil will bubble as tofu hits hot oil.
3. Gently stir it around for ~1 minute.
Drain
1. Drain on cooling rack for less than a minute.
2. Move on quickly to next step.
Coat tofu with Sichuan Dry Chilli Mix
1. Almost as soon as the tofu has been fried, it needs to be dusted with a dry seasoning mix.
2. Sprinkle some Sichuan Dry Chilli Mix on a plate large enough to hold the fried tofu. Recipe here or use an appropriate amount of your choice of a dry seasoning mix. I have some suggestions under my “Tips” section below.
4. Transfer tofu onto plate. Sprinkle tops of tofu with more of the Chilli Mix.
5. I pile a little more of the Chilli Mix to one side of the serving plate so diners can help themselves to more if they wish.
Serve
1. Best served hot.
2. Garnish with sliced spring onions if you wish.
Tips
What else can you season the tofu cubes with?
Try a combination of any of the ingredients below mixed with an appropriate amount of salt and chicken granules:
– Sichuan peppercorn powder
– onion powder
– celery salt
– garlic powder
– 5-spice powder
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