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/semantic_satiation]

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/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 :)