Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, this vegan fried tofu chunks are perfect to serve as a side, a snack or a quick party food!
When I was thinking of what I could prepare for a side to go with the sushi rolls that I made the other day, I thought about cooking something quick and light with tofu. I decided to fry tofu in batter but I had to be careful not to make it like vegan nuggets as my son doesn’t like them.
So I broke a block of tofu into pieces and let them sit in soy sauce to marinate for an hour. The irregular shapes helped to absorb the soy sauce while it was marinating and made it look like Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) when fried!
Ingredients needed
- Tofu
- Soy sauce
- Garlic puree
- Plain flour
- Rice flour
- Smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper
- Water
- Oil for frying
I used smoked paprika to add extra flavour to the batter and it works really well so I recommend not to omit it! The rice flour makes the fried tofu chunks crispier but if you haven’t got it, you can make with just the plain flour, it will still be delicious 🙂
Quick making guide
- Break the tofu into pieces with your hands
- Marinate the tofu with soy sauce and garlic puree, let it sit for an hour
- Mix the plain flour, rice flour, smoked paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl
- Start adding some water little by little to the flour mixture to make the batter, mix well
- Add
- Heat some oil in a wok
- Pick one piece of the marinated tofu with a folk and dip in the batter and coat, drop into the hot oil
- Continue to batter more, one by one until there is no more space in the wok. I fried about 8 pieces at a time
- Flip around the tofu while they are cooking so that they will be golden brown all over
- Take the cooked ones out on kitchen paper and repeat the step to fry the remaining tofu
Marinating the tofu is essential to make this dish tasty! You could marinate it longer than one hour or even over night. When you make the batter, please add small amount of water at a time and mix well to avoid lumps. You can aim at the consistency of pancake batter.
Fried Tofu Chunks
Ingredients
For marinating tofu
- 350 g Firm Tofu drained
- 2 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Garlic puree
For the batter
- 90 g Plain flour
- 30 g Rice flour
- 1 tsp Smoked paprika Add more if you want stronger flavour
- Salt and pepper
- 100 – 200 ml water You might need less or more depending on your flour
- 1 tsp Garlic puree
Other
- Oil for frying
- Dipping sauce for serving optional
Instructions
To marinate the tofu
- *Squeeze water out of the tofu between your hands and break the tofu into pieces.
- Mix the soy sauce and garlic puree together in a bowl and add the tofu to marinate for an hour.
- Mix the plain flour, rice flour, smoked paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl. Start adding some water little by little to the flour mixture to make the batter. Mix well each time you add the water to avoid lumps in the batter.
- Add the garlic puree to the batter and mix well. *Heat some oil in a wok, make sure it's hot enough to fry.
- Set the cooker to medium heat. Pick one piece of the marinated tofu with a folk and dip in the batter and coat, drop into the hot oil.
- *Continue to batter more, one by one until there is no more space in the wok. I fried about 8 pieces at a time.
- Flip around the tofu while they are cooking so that they will be golden brown all over. The frying takes about 3-5 minutes.
- Take the cooked ones out on kitchen paper and repeat the step to fry the remaining tofu.
- Serve warm with dipping sauce or without any sauce, they are delicious both ways!