Get Crispy Tofu With This Easy Hot Water Tip

There are a lot of great ways to serve tofu, but one of the best styles is when it has a crisp, crunchy outside around the soft inside. What is less great is when you are aiming for nice crispy tofu and instead end up with soft, soggy lumps of tofu in your food. There are, of course, endless things you can do to help with this, and they mostly center around a basic idea: drying the outer layer of the tofu. That's a particular challenge for a spongy substance that's packaged in liquid.

A lot of the methods for drying off tofu feel fairly logical. You can simply dry the outside, leave the tofu to sit and air dry in a room, or actively press the tofu to squeeze the water out. Failing that, it's possible to add a batter to the outside to crisp up around the tofu if that will fit with your dish. However, the most effective way to dry tofu off also feels like the most illogical. The tofu hack that can really save the day is simply pouring salted boiling water over your sliced tofu.

It would be understandable if you raised a questioning eyebrow at the idea of making something dryer by pouring water on it. However, there is science behind the practice. When the tofu is heated, it causes the proteins in the tofu to tighten up, which effectively makes the tofu wring the water out of itself. This same process happens if you microwave tofu for a short time, which is another recommendation for getting tofu dry and then crispy, but requires more hassle if you're doing a larger batch than simply pouring the water over. The salt in the water also helps to speed the process up by drawing some of the water out of the center of the tofu, while having the added benefit that it seasons the tofu at the same time.

You can even go a step further and boil your tofu in salted water for five to 10 minutes. The processes are the same, but it can cause the tofu to become firmer throughout and get a more solid texture. Whether you are boiling tofu in a pot or pouring water over it, it is good to cut the tofu into pieces beforehand. The increased surface area will make the water more effective and speed up the drying afterwards. Once the tofu has been treated, it can be laid out to dry, wrapped in towels to draw more moisture out, and even pressed to get as much water as possible out of the surface layers of the tofu. The result is reliably deliciously crispy tofu, and boiling it also promises an additional meatier texture. 

When it comes to actually preparing your tofu using this hack, it's important to start with the right ingredients. There are multiple types of tofu, and you'll want to avoid silken tofu and any non-silken tofu that advertises itself as softer. Firm, or ideally extra firm, is going to be your friend in this instance. Once you have cut up and rinsed your tofu in boiling water (or straight up boiled it), dry it, and, if desired, press it.

From here, you'll find that any cooking method is going to result in a crispier tofu result than you might be used to. For the very best results, look for a thin batter to add that little something extra, and then deep fry it in oil at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also add some cornstarch, or just fry it as it is. One important tip is that it's best to add seasonings and sauces a little way into the cooking process. If you add dry seasonings right at the start, then they risk burning while getting the tofu crispy, and you won't actually taste them at the end. Adding sauces to your tofu before you fry it will ruin the good work you did getting it dry in the first place. In both cases, once the tofu has a crispy outer skin, adding your seasonings can then be picked up by the crevices in the tofu and get gently cooked in. For a great tofu to top almost anything, add soy sauce and nutritional yeast for the last couple of minutes of frying.