Tofu katsu
So crispy and delicious, you'll wonder why you never made tofu like it before!
Tofu katsu with a fluffy egg and frizzled scallions
Time: 30 mins | Difficulty: 2/5 | Recommendation: Weeknight meal
A few months ago, I discovered a recipe from the brilliant Woon Heng for tofu katsu—basically, flattened, breaded tofu that’s fried, taking the place of chicken—and I have fallen in love. It’s become one of the meals in my go-to rotation, because it’s simple yet super flavorful and full of texture. She is vegan, but I am not, so I’ve adjusted mine to be a non-vegan recipe that uses real egg in the batter. If your oil is hot enough, you don’t have to fry the tofu slices for very long, so they don’t get an oily texture at all. I like to make a sauce for the top based on Thai chili paste and mustard, and I also like to actually cook the leftover egg I used to batter the tofu. If you drop a whisked egg into super hot oil, it immediately puffs up and gets sooo fluffy!! You gotta try it! It’s so fun. I recommend having this tofu over rice, because it soaks up the sauce really nicely, or noodles.
Ingredients/tools:
2 slices of tofu, about 3/4 inch thick (preferably thawed from frozen)
Rice flour
Panko bread crumbs
1 egg
Vegetable oil
2 scallions, chopped thinly on a diagonal
For the sauce:
Thai red chili paste
Dijon mustard
Soy sauce
A dash of rice vinegar
Honey
Chili flakes
Immersion blender or whisk
Method:
Whisk the egg in a bowl. Pour some rice flour on a plate, and spread some panko on another plate.
Dip the tofu first in the rice flour, then the egg, then coat well with the panko.
Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet, about half an inch deep. When it’s piping hot, place the tofu in the skillet. Fry on each side for about a minute or so, until crispy and golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle on some salt immediately.
Pour the whisked egg directly into the hot oil. It will puff up kind of like a thin omelette. Flip it as needed—you only need to cook it for about 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper, then drain on a paper towel.
Lastly, toss the whites of the scallions in the oil for about 10 seconds until they get crispy and start to brown.
Make the sauce, adding all of the ingredients plus a touch of water, and immersion blending. (You can also just whisk it all, but blending the sauce aerates it and gets it suuuper smooth!)
Layer up! Rice, tofu, sauce, fried scallions, egg, and the scallion greens on top.
Want more tofu recipes? Check these out below!