Crispy Tofu With Balsamic Tomatoes

I bake tofu a lot with assorted veggies and I will try the cornstarch but my only concern is 1 tbsp of cornstarch adds about 7-8 grams of carbs. If you are counting them every one counts. I get great results with a bit of avocado mayonnaise mixed with olive oil. The egg protein in the mayo does the same thing as the corn starch. You get a great browning on anything from chicken & fish or roasted potatoes. With less carbs.

For those who own one, you can make very good crispy tofu in an air fryer. There are literally millions of recipes online and other than the prep time it takes about 10 minutes. An interesting alternative to cornstarch is nutritional yeast. It adds a slightly cheesy taste, in a good way. Just keep an eye on the cooking time.

i made this with a large leek and half of a large tomato. i elevated the tofu side of the pan to keep the veg juices away from the tofu. it took about 45 min to get crispy tofu and needed A LOT more salt on the tofu but definitely has promise. The carmelized veg on orzo was great, with a lot of parmesan! PS to dry the tofu faster, cook the whole block in the microwave for 2 minutes! wster comes out MUCH faster

I cook and eat tofu frequently for health and simplicity, primarily stir fries. Pan frying cubed towel dried tofu in oil just doesnt work. It takes a mess and loads that clean tofu with oil, and never develops a good crust. At the advice of Kate (Cookieandkate.com) I now roast all my cubed tofu with a mixture of a TBSP or two of EVOO, soy sauce and cornstarch!. I then add at the end of any of the stir fry recipes here on NYT.--- Just tonight : Saag Tofu! Can't wait to try out this recipe by MC

Here’s a secret: to press tofu, you don’t need to use kitchen towels, paper towels, or any sort of fabric. I press mine on a cutting board (on my counter next to the sink) which has one of those little grooves around the perimeter to catch juices. The liquid fills the grooves and now and then I tip the whole thing slightly into the sink. (There is another cutting board on top with heavy things on it.) Easy peasy, no wet cloths to deal with.

I look forward to trying this - but also wanted to share a way for crisp oven tofu that I found at goop. Preheat your sheet pan so that the tofu (and everything else) sizzles when it goes onto the hot pan. Delicious!

My brother is a vegetarian and has made a similar recipe using nutritional yeast. It's terrific, and tastes a little like fried chicken. I always look forward to it on our summer BBQ get-togethers. I highly recommend it.

I, too, highly recommend a tofu press. It transformed all my tofu preparations. Regarding the oil and cornstarch mix being messy--could I not just spray the cubes with oil and then coat them??

Instead of cubing the tofu before coating, I coat the slabs then cut off strips and coat them, then cube, and coat the remaining side. This is because the tofu is so fragile and seems to hold together when I do it this way. I also used chilly crisp instead of garlic powder.

I use arrow powder instead of cornstarch :-) and it works great

Tofu presses are inexpensive and much more efficient at extracting the water from your tofu. If you have a convection toaster oven, you can get the same affect as an air fryer with easier cleanup.

Made it last night and it was delicious! I agree it will take a bit longer in the oven for the tofu to get really crispy...I used two red onions, and next time I would consider adding mushrooms...

My neighbor taught me that cubing the tofu (or any shape you like) then freezing it first makes it great for absorbing any marinade, sauce or seasonings you use after it's thawed.

I toss “squeezed” tofu in plastic bag of cornstarch seasoned with salt and pepper, shaking off extra cornstarch in a colander. I fry it in a single layer in a small amount of oil. This works well for eggplant cubes too. I will try the baking method, but will toss the tofu in a bit of oil before shaking in the cornstarch. I think this will distribute the oil more evenly. I agree about the snacking. It takes a lot of will power to get the tofu to the table.

If you cook with tofu with any regularity, get yourself a tofu press. They're inexpensive and way more efficient than the old paper towels/heavy pan system.