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★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
Crave-Worthy Texture and Taste
Each piece of tofu is perfectly crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside, delivering that irresistible contrast. Tossed in a simple yet flavor-packed Asian sesame sauce, it hits all the right notes—sweet, spicy, and savory—topped off with crunchy sugar snap peas for extra texture and freshness.
Inspired by a Restaurant Favorite
That first taste of crispy tofu stuck with me, after trying it at a trendy little place in Annapolis, Maryland called Tsunami. Now, years later, I’ve recreated the dish in my own kitchen. The textures and flavors hit just right, especially with that gingery sesame sauce.
Yes, You Can Make This!
Think this is a chef-level meal? Think again. If you can follow a recipe, you can totally make this. Don’t let tofu intimidate you—this dish is beginner-friendly and delivers serious flavor. Give it a go, and enjoy that trendy-restaurant vibe right from your kitchen table.
Make it a Meal
Serve with with cooked sushi rice seasoned with a bit of sweet mirin and crunchy fresh snap peas for a light, easy and refreshing meal.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
Here's a look at everything you'll need to make fried tofu with sauce, served with rice and snap peas.
Main ingredients:
- Firm tofu
- Eggs
- Flour
- Corn starch
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Vegetable oil
Sesame Sauce
- Sesame oil
- Garlic paste
- Ginger paste
- Beef stock or use vegetable stock
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Red pepper flakes. Add for heat.
- Corn starch + water. This makes a slurry to thicken the sauce.
Sesame Sauce
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Green onion
Serve with
- Cooked sushi rice. Or any white rice or grain you prefer or have on hand.
- Sugar snap peas
★ Tips & FAQs ★
In a nutshell, you're going to coat your tofu then fry it to get that crispy outer layer. The fried crispy layer contrasts the silky texture of the inside so nicely, it's like a little party in your mouth. When you add the delicious sesame sauce, it'll blow your mind!
You really don't need anything special to make this crispy sesame tofu other than a frying pan with a lip that can hold a small amount of oil, and a flat spatula. I prefer a thin, flexible metal spatula so you can easily get under the tofu to flip it without hurting it, but as long as you're gentle you can get away with using a thicker one.
I used my cast iron skillet to fry the tofu but any fry pan works. Don't own a cast iron skillet? They're super useful for frying, baking and even serving hot dips like this Mexican Hot Bean Dip.
Shop cast iron skillets on Amazon
If you have kids, try reserving a few pieces of fried tofu without the sesame sauce for them to try. They may like them lightly salted or dipped in ketchup. It may help to tell them its similar to a chicken nugget. It worked with mine anyway!
Sushi rice is a good match with fried tofu however, you can "cheat" and use microwaveable rice or leftover Chinese food rice.
Lightly toasting sesame seeds adds extra butty flavor. You can do this ahead of time or buy sesame seeds already toasted. If you pre-toast your sesame seeds, then you just sprinkle them on as a garnish right before serving. It makes this dish look and taste great.
Add mirin to cooked rice which will add tang, a touch of sweetness which layers in complimentary flavor to the tofu. 2–3 tablespoons of mirin per 2 cups of cooked rice is ideal but you can adjust the amount to your liking.
★ More Sesame Recipes ★
Want more dinner ideas?
Be sure to also browse my easy dinner recipes.
This crispy sesame tofu with rice was featured on South Your Mouth!
Crispy Sesame Tofu
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 oz firm tofu ½ block
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup oil or more for large pans
Sesame Sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic paste or powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger paste or powder
- 1 cup beef stock or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- red pepper flakes to taste
- 1 tablespoon corn starch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
TOPPINGS
- toasted sesame seeds
- green onions sliced
To serve
- 2 cups cooked rice ½ cup per serving
- sugar snap peas raw
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Instructions
- Toast sesame seeds. Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a toaster oven for just 1 minute or until light golden brown.
- Cut up tofu. Cut a ½" thick slice of tofu from the short end of the block. Cut the slice in half then each half diagonally into triangles.
- Set up your batter station. In a small bowl whisk flour, corn starch, salt and baking powder together. In a separate small bowl, whisk the eggs together.
- Fry tofu. Fill a frying pan with cooking oil, about ⅛-1/4" deep. Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan is fine and heat over medium. Take your tofu triangles and dip them in egg, then the flour mixture, then place into the frying pan. Fry for 3 minutes on each side, flipping gently with your spatula. When cooked, remove tofu from pan and set aside on a paper-towel lined plate.
- Prepare sauce. While the tofu is cooking, prepare the sauce by whisking together the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Assemble and serve. Scoop warm cooked rice in 4 bowls. Then dredge tofu gently through the sauce and place on top of rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions and add sugar snap peas.
Notes
- Here's a fun little trick to see if your oil is hot enough: put a kernel of pop corn in the oil. When it pops, it's ready!
- Buy sesame seeds already toasted to save time.
- You could also serve with cooked snow peas instead of snap peas, or any vegetable you prefer.
Alana says
YUM.
I added more veg, but this is so delicious as-is. Thank you!
Angela G. says
Thanks for the feedback Alana! Glad you liked it!