Tao Hoo Tod (Fried Tofu with Dipping Sauce)

เต้าหู้ทอด

Tao hoo tod is the dish that converts tofu sceptics. Soft yellow tofu, fried until the outside shatters and the inside stays warm and custardy, served with a sweet-sour dipping sauce flecked with chilli and crushed peanut. On UK Thai menus it anchors the vegetarian section — often the only starter on the page that vegans and meat-eaters order in equal numbers.

The dish is defined by its contrast, and the contrast comes from the tofu choice: soft yellow tofu (tao hoo leuang nim), never the firm white brick, never silken. The soft block fries to a crisp skin with a molten centre; the firm brick just dries out.

The Recipe (serves 2 · ~25 min)

Allergens: soy, peanut · Suitable for: vegetarian

For the tofu

For the dipping sauce

The Method

1. Fry the tofu. Cut the tofu into bite-size triangles or rectangles and pat dry. Heat the oil over medium-high. Add the tofu carefully and leave it alone until the underside sets and turns pale gold before turning — flipping too early tears the skin. Fry until golden and crisp all over, then drain on kitchen paper.
2. Make the sauce. Combine the sugars, salt, vinegar and water in a small pot. Simmer, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the sauce turns slightly syrupy. Leave to cool — it thickens as it cools.
3. Finish and serve. Stir the chopped chillies and crushed peanuts into the cooled sauce just before serving. Serve the tofu hot with the sauce alongside.

The sauce is half the dish

The classic nam jim — sugar, palm sugar, vinegar, salt, simmered to a syrup, with chopped chilli and crushed roasted peanuts stirred in at the end — is the same three-flavour family as the sauces served with spring rolls and fried chicken. It must be cooled before the peanuts and chilli go in, or the heat wilts them and dulls the bite.

Patience in the pan

The one skill is not turning too early. Tofu needs a minute undisturbed to set a skin; flip it before then and it tears, and the exposed custard soaks up oil. Let the first side go pale gold, then turn.

Serving

• Sauce: Serve the peanut-chilli sauce in a small bowl for dipping
• Extra: Fried tofu stays crispest eaten immediately

Cook's Tips

• Soft yellow tofu, not the firm white brick, gives the custardy centre that makes this dish. Silken tofu will not hold its shape in the oil.
• Don't touch the tofu for the first minute of frying — it needs to set a skin before it can be turned.
• The sauce thickens as it cools, so simmer it until it just coats a spoon; it will finish in the bowl.

Variations

• Three-flavour version (nam jim sam rot). The same sauce with more vinegar and chilli, balanced sweet-sour-hot — the version sold by street vendors.
• Not vegetarian. Add finely chopped coriander root to the sauce, or top the tofu with crisp fried garlic.

Sources

This recipe is translated from the following Thai-language sources. Where they disagree, we've said so.