Look no further than this fried tofu with salted egg sauce if you need an easy recipe that will wow your family and friends.
The salted duck egg is an incredible ingredient that is treasured in several Asian cuisines- including Vietnamese. The golden yolk, in particular, has a phenomenal umami taste that is rich, fatty, and almost creamy.
I grew up eating hard boiled salted eggs with rice congee and salted egg yolks in moon cakes. As a kid, I never liked savory mooncakes so when my parents were not looking, I would quickly sneak off with the egg yolk and leave the rest for them.
You can buy salted duck eggs in most Asian grocery stores, but they are also very easy to make at home. We prefer making our own and adding spices to the brine to give the eggs some lovely extra flavors.
We like to roll tofu in tapioca starch to make it extra crunchy, but you can skip this step.
Just look at that gorgeous color. Trust us, you need some.
Đậu chiên sốt trứng muối
Course: Appetizers, MainCuisine: VietnameseDifficulty: Easy2
servings10
minutes20
minutes30
minutesIngredients
400 g 400 tofu (see note)
1/2 cup 1/2 tapioca starch
3 3 salted eggs
15 g 15 garlic
2 tbsp 2 vegetable oil
2 tbsp 2 butter
1 tsp 1 bouillon powder
Vegetable oil (for frying)
Green onion, Vietnamese/Thai basil, cilantro for garnish
Directions
- Bring a medium pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the salted eggs and cook on medium high for 12 minutes.
- Remove eggs from pot and set aside to cool.
- Pat dry tofu and cut into bite-sized cubes.
- Pour tapioca starch into a bowl or deep plate, roll tofu cubes to cover all sides.
- In a large frying pan or pot, add enough vegetable oil for a layer about 2 cm deep. Heat oil on medium until it bubbles around a wooden chopstick or spatula.
- Add tofu cubes in a single layer, leaving some space between pieces. Because of the tapioca starch, the tofu pieces will be sticky at first before they become crispy.
- Fry on medium, turning the pieces every minute or so, until all sides are golden and crispy. This will take about 10-12 minutes.
Remove tofu to wire rack to drain excess oil. - Using a serrated knife, hit the eggs slightly lengthwise to create a crack and cut into halves.
This is safer than trying to cut into the whole shell directly. (See video) - Mince garlic
- Heat a pan over medium and add vegetable oil.
- Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Scoop the salted egg yolks into the pan (save the whites for another recipe). Mash the yolks with a spatula and stir until you get a crumbly paste.
- Add butter to pan and stir to melt. You should now have a thick sauce.
- Add fried tofu cubes to the pan and stir/toss to coat every piece with the sauce.
- Garnish with diced green onions and Vietnamese/Thai basil or cilantro.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Firm or soft tofu will both work, depending on your texture preference. Soft tofu will be more fragile and a little more difficult to work with. We used firm. Would not recommend extra firm.
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