Oatmeal Crusted Fried Tofu

Pan-fried tofu is the easiest and simplest way to enjoy tofu. I love the blandness of tofu, so I very much prefer this very simple method. Occasionally I shake up the monotonous way of cooking pan-fried tofu with oatmeal coating to give a bit of crunch, and also oatmeal is healthier than plain all-purpose flour. I hope you will give this recipe for oatmeal crusted fried tofu a try.

Grind the oatmeal

Since the role of oatmeal here is to substitute for all-purpose flour, you will want to grind the oatmeal into powder. It doesn’t have to be powdery fine, but definitely much finer than even instant or quick-cook oatmeal. I simply measure about a cup of oatmeal and grind them with my mini food processor. You most likely will not be using all of the ground oatmeal, but it is better to have extra just in case.

Salt, pepper, and oatmeal

Start by draining your two blocks of firm tofu. I almost always use House Foods organic firm tofu since my local Costco always have them, and each block is about 1 lb (450 gram). I use two blocks in this recipe, but you can always scale up or down, and feel free to use whichever brand of firm tofu you want. In fact, there isn’t even any need for exact measurement since you only need to sprinkle with salt and pepper, then coat the tofu with ground oatmeal, then fry in very shallow oil (~ 1/8 inch) until all sides are golden brown. You can enjoy the tofu as is or cut them up into smaller cubes and toss with your salad.