Being the wife of a vegetarian, one of the easiest things that I do at the beginning of the week is make air fryer tofu. This is something that I utilize in almost every single Asian dish that I make for Tim, and it only requires TWO ingredients–canola oil cooking spray and fresh tofu! It is super easy to throw this into a stir-fry, put it as a meat substitute in soup dishes (i.e. phở, bún bò huế), use it in noodle dishes (i.e. bún bò xao, pad see ewe), or literally any dish that uses fried tofu or needs a meat substitute.
Photo credit: My Healthy Kitchen
I would love to say that I use the air fryer for healthy reasons, but the REAL reason I use it for frying tofu is that air fryer tofu doesn’t create the mess that deep fried tofu does. If you’ve ever fried tofu, it is a HUGE mess. Not to mention the amount of oil used and having to actually dispose of the oil once you’re finished.
I use the Simple Chef Air Fryer from Amazon, but you can really use any air fryer. I like this one because it is fairly simple–there are only two dials, one for temperature and one for time.
The other important thing to note is to use the right tofu for frying!! Whether you are air frying or deep frying, the best tofu to use is the loaf of tofu sold in Asian markets (or as I like to call it, loafu). The Kitchn has a pretty good article on the difference between types of tofu, but what it boils down to is that the firmer the tofu, the less water it has. So if you want to fry tofu, use something along the lines of extra-firm or super-firm. The loafu from the Asian market is more extra-firm, meaning you don’t have to press any water out of it and it is immediately FRY-READY!
The brand I prefer to use is Tân Nam Tofu, made in Rosemead, CA and sold in many larger Southern California Chinese/Vietnamese markets. But it all depends on what is available to you! This tofu is made fresh and packaged in plastic wrap with water. I have noticed that this fresh tofu does tend to spoil quicker–usually good for at least 2 days, but past that is pushing it–so the sooner you fry it, the longer it will last (at least a week and oftentimes more).
Instructions:
Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees (or around there if yours is not precise with the temperature).
Cut the tofu into about 1/2-inch slices. Spray your air fryer with cooking oil spray (you only have to do this once!).
Place in a single row (if you have to overlap, try to put only a few slices on top but between the cracks of the first layer so you can get the best airflow). Spray the top of the tofu with cooking oil spray.
Before frying
Let it cook for 10 minutes on one side. Because cooking times may vary between air fryers, this is what mine looked like after 10 minutes. If it’s not completely done on one side, that’s okay, because it will still be cooking when you flip it!
After frying for 10 minutes
Flip it over and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
After frying for 10 more minutes (20 minutes total)
DONE!! If you are worried that your tofu is a little bit pale, don’t worry! It will get a tad bit darker after it is out of the fryer. If you plan to continue frying, no need to spray the air fryer with more oil, just place the un-oiled tofu slices directly in the air fryer (there is enough oil without more spray), and only spray the top side of the next batch.
The final step is to cut it into whatever size you need it for–here, I air fried two tofu loaves and cut 70% into shorter strips for stir-fry and soup dishes and the other 30% in longer strips for making Vietnamese spring rolls. Like I said earlier, this will keep for a week minimum if not a few days past that.
Final thoughts:
This recipe is not the most revolutionary, BUT the important thing to note here is that frying tasty tofu in the air fryer CAN be done in a non-messy, non-greasy way. You can see that although the air fried tofu did not get quite the same poofy airiness that deep fried tofu might get, it still has a good deal of fluffiness and bubbles in the tofu.
And as an added plus, you can have this ready all week for when you want fried tofu to throw into a recipe without going to the hassle of frying it yourself or buying some from the store. And you can rest assured that it is certainly a lot less bad for you than deep fried tofu!