Maintaining Crispier Tofu

[u/Accomplished_Run_593]

Hello,

Earlier this year I have gotten into cooking. I don't cook a lot of dishes but the dozen that I can make, I am fairly proud of. I strive to improve my cooking skills all the time.

One dish I make, is the Crispy Tofu bowl. The sauce that I mix in with the crispy tofu is gochujang (its more runnier side).

My problem is that I can't maintain the crispy-ness of the tofu once I introduce the gochujang sauce. I understand introducing anything liquid will make things soggy. I was hoping there would be some other methods to better crispy-fying the tofu and its a bit more soggy resistant? Whether its technique or ingredient

Currently I use:

1. firm tofu - slice and use paper towel to wick out as much moisture, then I cube them.

2. Cornstarch with spices

3. Throw the cubed tofu into the cornstarch mix and toss it around until its well coated

4. pan fry with olive oil or sometimes ghee.

5. remove from heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes. At this point the tofu is crispy

6. mix in gochujang sauce

[u/potatoaster]

You can increase resistance to sog by improving either the crust or the sauce.

Crust:

• Corn starch is good, but something even higher in amylose would be better. Get your hands on some Crisp Coat.
• Add a touch of baking powder to improve the structure of the crust surface.
• Deep-frying is considerably better for texture than is pan-frying.
• Double-frying can yield major improvements as well (though YMMV for very thin coatings).

Sauce:

• Remove water by simmering or gently baking.
• Thicken the sauce with a starch or gum (a thixotropic gum like xanthan would be ideal).
• Switch to or partially replace with gochujang powder (freeze-dried, preferably).

A decent home cook would implement baking powder and cooking the sauce. An excellent home cook would implement deep-frying and xanthan gum. A professional would implement Crisp Coat, gochujang powder, and specific resting, moistening, and chilling steps during the frying process to maximize crispiness and its longevity.

Edit: Oh, one more technique for the home cook: Marinate the tofu in gochujang and dry thoroughly (bake or leave uncovered in fridge) before coating.

[u/Accomplished_Run_593 → u/[deleted]]

I think reducing kind of kills some of the flavours I got in there. I tried it before when I used the same sauce to stir fry chicken.

When it's not reduced, it's get more lively flavours and it taste fresh and a bit kicky. When it's reduced, it's kind of syrupy and just seems way sweeter.

So I'm not sure if it's possible the rice vinegar that dissipates. It doesn't seem the same to my taste buds when it's reduced.

I might have to experiment a little now.

I got:

• gochujang paste
• soy sauce
• mirin
• rice vinegar
• honey

[u/thomasbeagle]

Serious Eats did a great crispy tofu using a batter with vodka in it. I've used it and it works very well. 

https://www.seriouseats.com/vegan-experience-crispy-tofu-broccoli-stir-fry

[u/bagskelbaz]

I've recently started using this technique from Nisha Vora on NYT Cooking where you actually almost brine/cure the tofu in boiling water before frying to great effect. Its detailed here.

[u/Little_Baseball5523 → u/bagskelbaz]

How does this help to solve OP's problem? It doesn't.

[u/bagskelbaz → u/Little_Baseball5523]

“  I was hoping there would be some other methods to better crispy-fying the tofu and it’s  a bit more soggy resistant?”

This method has resulted in crispier and more sog resistant tofu. That’s like the whole point.

[u/Little_Baseball5523 → u/bagskelbaz]

In the video, she doesn't toss the tofu in a sauce after it's fried… so no, this still doesn't help to solve OP's problem

[u/bagskelbaz → u/Little_Baseball5523]

Like I said initially I’ve been using to great effect. It’s stood up better in sauces for me

[u/HamBroth]

I just keep the sauce on the side and dip the tofu

[u/Logical_Warthog5212]

Look up Korean fried chicken. It uses a batter and double fries it. There is no reason you can’t use the same recipes for tofu instead of chicken.

[u/simagus]

You sprinkle the tofu on top just before serving or serve it separately if cooking for a group so they can add their own on top.

[u/Little_Baseball5523 → u/simagus]

This is the best answer

[u/potatoaster → u/Little_Baseball5523]

No it isn't; it doesn't address the core issue. It would be a good fix if the sauce were in the bowl and the tofu became soggy only upon adding it to the bowl, but in fact OP's recipe involves adding sauce directly to the tofu.

[u/the_big_leagues]

After you slice your tofu, put some paper towels below and on top of it and then weight it down with a pan and a bag of flour in the pan. The weight will squeeze out more moisture and the paper towels will help keep the surface dry out. I recommend doing this on a cutting board over the sink so the excess moisture has a place to go.

[u/Accomplished_Run_593 → u/the_big_leagues]

Well I do make sure my tofu is burrioted with paper towels. Usually i go through 2-3 paper towel sheets. I wrap and press until I get most of it. Then change paper towels and continue. Until it's not very wet. I do this on top of my wooden cutting board.

I didn't think of weighing it down . Maybe I can try that next time.

[u/semantic_satiation]

I've been getting great results with a few tweaks lately:

• Freeze the tofu and thaw before using to remove more moisture. Repeating this process gets a lot of water out.
• Use potato starch for more crispiness.
• I'll do a coat of starch, then apply a sauce (sambal in my case, gochujang in yours), then another coat of starch.
• I toss mine in the air fryer for about 20 minutes until they're golden. YMMV with pan frying, but it should be essentially the same. Depending on the wetness of your tofu the oil may splatter.

It's been some of the best tofu I've made recently. I've been doing sandwiches with cole slaw, bbq sauce, and some pickled onion on a pretzel bun.

[u/Accomplished_Run_593 → u/semantic_satiation]

Interesting. How much do you freeze it? Partially frozen or rock solid frozen?

[u/semantic_satiation → u/Accomplished_Run_593]

Rock solid. I tend to batch it out cause it can take a while to freeze then thaw and then freeze and thaw again. It does a great job of removing a ton of water, though, so it's worth it to me. Lately I've been kinda lazy so I buy the pre-baked stuff from Trader Joes, toss it with some potato starch, and let it rip.

[u/Accomplished_Run_593 → u/semantic_satiation]

The crispy tofu bowl is probably my mom's favourite and it's usually a last minute dish because it gets put together quickly and I have the sauce already bottled.

None of us were tofu fans until that dish.

We have it once a week.

I'm going to give this a try. I haven't worked with potato startch. So I'll pick some up as well and see if it works better.

[u/semantic_satiation → u/Accomplished_Run_593]

I use Bob's Red Mill brand and it's been working pretty well. Good luck!

[u/AbbieNormal → u/Accomplished_Run_593]

To add on to your freezing options: if you can find superfirm, the kind not packed in water, keep a block in your freezer, then thaw a night or 2 before you plan to make the tofu. Agree with /u/semantic_satiation, it will squeeze out soooo easily. Like, shocking amounts of water when you gently squeeze or press it.
You can do the same with extra firm, but usually that comes in water - so probably best to take it out of the package & put it in a freezer bag, in whatever portions you'd like.
I like to write the "Frozen [date of freezing]" on the package in sharpie, so I don't get freaked out seeing the original "best by" date when thawed in the fridge 💀

[u/Accomplished_Run_593 → u/AbbieNormal]

When you cook tofu that's been frozen, do you notice any texture changes vs just using it fresh?

[u/AbbieNormal → u/Accomplished_Run_593]

Yes, it's more chewy & less crumbly. Not chewy like gum, more like a sponge with lots of "spring" in it (esp before cooking). So if you marinate before, it'll go really fast. Easier to control if just adding sauce afterwards. Either way, cooking it will be faster because less water content. I love how the different texture feels "meatier" if thicker sliced or cubed. If you slice it thin enough for super crispy texture, it might not end up different than very well pressed raw standard tofu. Unsure on that last part since we just try for crispy edges & "skin". Hope any of that helps :)

[u/VeryImportantDog → u/semantic_satiation]

Yes I always freeze mine and thaw it, and you could wring out a lot more moisture. This gives it- in my opinion- a much better texture.

[u/Special-Duck3890]

Pretty sure the key is in the sauce not the tofu. In Korean fried chicken, they tend to use a lot of syrup to avoid moisture that could get soaked into the chicken and ruin the crisp

[u/whiskeytango55]

you're just wicking with a paper towel?

you gotta squeeze that shit. gently and over time.

flip a plate upside down, put on your tofu and then put a can on the plate. walk away for like 20 min. more weight and more time if you want it super dry. come back every now and then to dump the liquid that's been squeezed out

shit's a sponge and you're not happy its still wet when you never squeezed out the liquid.

[u/Accomplished_Run_593 → u/whiskeytango55]

I guess I'm not wicking enough moisture.

Someone else suggested to put some weight on it. So I'll try that.

[u/AskCulinary-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your response has been removed because it does not answer the original question. We are here to respond to specific questions. Discussions and broader answers are allowed in our weekly discussions.

[u/makai88]

It is also the tofu itself. I've found most regular store bought tofu doesn't really get that "all the way crunchy". Even going to tofu shops, it's very hit or miss whether a specific tofu shop knows how to make the kind of tofu that fries up airy and crunchy.

But if you can't find the right tofu, then all the suggestions here are good (boil, freeze, cornstarch, etc), but they will still get soggy.....

[u/SewerRanger]

There really isn't a way that I've found to coat tofu in a wet sauce and have it stay crispy other than doing something like a tempura batter and deep frying it. A shallow pan fry like that is great at getting a light crispy crust, but that crust isn't thick enough to hold up to a wet sauce.