Crispy tofu without oil?

sarahkanzalone

Does anyone know any way to make tofu crispy without frying it in oil? I'd rather save those Cals for more veg or tofu

NaturalNancy

Put some Pam spray or a tad of olive pu and bake it in the oven until crispy!

rainbowbow

yes!

it's called the dry fry method!

First of all you need firm or super firm tofu.

if you have a tofu press go ahead and use that, otherwise you can just do what i do:



either heavy books, cans, etc. It needs to be pressed for MINIMUM 1 hour.

Pat it completely dry when the hour is up and it should feel pretty dry to the touch and compressed. Then cut it into your desired shapes.

Heat a non-stick (IMPORTANT) skillet on medium high. Place 3-4 peices of tofu in. Sprinkle them with salt.

Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. As you have it cooking on each side use your spatula to squeeze and press the tofu. You should hear a sizzling sound as water is being released from it.

Once your desired tofu amount is cooked it can be soaked in a marinade, sauce, etc. or added to other dishes.

sarahkanzalone

Thanks! Will give this a try

antennachick

Freezing before also helps and then press like posted above...it tastes so much better texture wise!

RodaRose

A little corn starch as shown here: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-crispy-tofu-without-deepfrying-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-201265

suzan06

I've never tried freezing. I'll try that.

I often bake in a marinade of soy sauce, rice vinegar, etc, with about a tablespoon of oil for the whole block. If you have a convection oven it gets quite crispy.

ClosetBayesian

rainbowbow wrote: »

yes!

it's called the dry fry method!

First of all you need firm or super firm tofu.

if you have a tofu press go ahead and use that, otherwise you can just do what i do:



either heavy books, cans, etc. It needs to be pressed for MINIMUM 1 hour.

Pat it completely dry when the hour is up and it should feel pretty dry to the touch and compressed. Then cut it into your desired shapes.

Heat a non-stick (IMPORTANT) skillet on medium high. Place 3-4 peices of tofu in. Sprinkle them with salt.

Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. As you have it cooking on each side use your spatula to squeeze and press the tofu. You should hear a sizzling sound as water is being released from it.

Once your desired tofu amount is cooked it can be soaked in a marinade, sauce, etc. or added to other dishes.

If you do as above, but cook it a bit past the golden brown point (ideally in a cast-iron pan), you get blackened tofu, which is fantastic in fajitas.

JoshuaMcAllister

rainbowbow wrote: »

yes!

it's called the dry fry method!

First of all you need firm or super firm tofu.

if you have a tofu press go ahead and use that, otherwise you can just do what i do:



either heavy books, cans, etc. It needs to be pressed for MINIMUM 1 hour.

Pat it completely dry when the hour is up and it should feel pretty dry to the touch and compressed. Then cut it into your desired shapes.

Heat a non-stick (IMPORTANT) skillet on medium high. Place 3-4 peices of tofu in. Sprinkle them with salt.

Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. As you have it cooking on each side use your spatula to squeeze and press the tofu. You should hear a sizzling sound as water is being released from it.

Once your desired tofu amount is cooked it can be soaked in a marinade, sauce, etc. or added to other dishes.

Would the same apply if you were to marinade first, then drain? I've found in the past flavour doesn't really hold to dry fried tofu? I'll have to try this again, I gave up on tofu for this reason.

sarahkanzalone

I have frozen before for another recipe and the texture was good

Thanks everyone!

rainbowbow

JoshuaMcAllister wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

yes!

it's called the dry fry method!

First of all you need firm or super firm tofu.

if you have a tofu press go ahead and use that, otherwise you can just do what i do:



either heavy books, cans, etc. It needs to be pressed for MINIMUM 1 hour.

Pat it completely dry when the hour is up and it should feel pretty dry to the touch and compressed. Then cut it into your desired shapes.

Heat a non-stick (IMPORTANT) skillet on medium high. Place 3-4 peices of tofu in. Sprinkle them with salt.

Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. As you have it cooking on each side use your spatula to squeeze and press the tofu. You should hear a sizzling sound as water is being released from it.

Once your desired tofu amount is cooked it can be soaked in a marinade, sauce, etc. or added to other dishes.

Would the same apply if you were to marinade first, then drain? I've found in the past flavour doesn't really hold to dry fried tofu? I'll have to try this again, I gave up on tofu for this reason.

i've found that the method i described works pretty well for having the tofu taste yummy but the flavoring is only coated on the outside. I toss the tofu straight from the pan (really hot) into sauce directly and let it sit for 30 + minutes.

I've found that the only way to cook tasty pre-marinated tofu is actual-legit-frying. And that adds a ton of calories i can't really afford.