Crispy Tofu

Here’s a quick Food & Wine vegetarian recipe that’s really good. The key is the ginger-scallion salsa for topping the tofu.

Make sure to drain the tofu really really well. You want as little water as possible in it.

What you’ll need:

• 3T minced ginger
• 3T minced scallions 
• 1T white vinegar
• 0.33 cups canola oil—NOTE: this is a crazy amount of oil for this recipe. It seems that 3T is the most you’d need.
• Salt
• 1 large egg, vigorously beaten
• ~1 cup of panko
• 1 package of firm or extra firm tofu

What to do:

Starting with the topping:

Mix the minced ginger and scallions in a bowl with the vinegar and oil. Salt, to taste and set aside.

Now, drain the tofu really well, and cut into 1-inch-thick slices. One at a time, dip the slices into the egg and dredge in the panko. Set on a plate until ready to fry.

Add enough oil to just over the bottom of a frypan—nonstick works really well in this case—and heat the oil for frying. Once the oil is hot enough—maybe 300 or so degrees—add the tofu slices and cook for a few minutes, turning once, until crisp.

Remove the tofu and briefly drain on a paper towel, before moving to a serving plate. Pre-top with the ginger-scallion mixture, or set out the bowl for diners to add it, themselves.