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This tofu karaage recipe is the Japanese vibe that your vegan popcorn chicken has been dreaming of. While it’s quite a bit more grown-up than boring ol’ nuggets, these are 200% something your kids will freak out about, whether you are making it as part of a complete dinner or rocking it in a container for a verrrry deluxe road trip snack.
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Karaage (pronounced kah-rah-ah-geh) is a Japanese dish that’s normally made by deep-frying marinated pieces of dead birds (poor little, sweet, lovable chickens 😞) in a crisp, golden crust. But my completely vegan version spares the chickens with a very special way tofu can be prepped to have meaty texture that might just freak you out a little.
Serve it up over some somen salad, sunomono, or wakame salad, sprinkle it with some furikake, and gosh darn, you are reaching for the upper echelons of BOMB homemade dinner heaven.
Jump to:
🥰 Why this tofu karaage recipe rocks!
🤯 Insanely Meaty Texture: The method you are about to rock out turns tofu into something that rivals any processed fake-meat thingy, but like, without having to eat melted airplanes, and science dust, or whatever the heck store-bought fake meat is made out of.
✊ Vegan AF & GF: This tofu karaage, like all of my vegan Japanese recipes, is made without any animal products.
🛒 Easy-to-Find Ingredients: No need for specialty shops – everything you need for this tofu karaage is likely in your pantry already, from tamari to potato starch. I also included links for you to order anything you don’t already have.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan recipes I share, after tweaking and perfecting it, I shared it with a massive team of recipe testers who replicated it successfully all around the world.
🌱 Vegan karaage ingredients
Soft Tofu
Nothing makes a crazier, layered chicken-like texture than soft tofu. Lemme be clear—I am not talking about silken tofu here—I am talking about soft “regular” tofu.
Here’s the deal: you are going to press all of the water out and then freeze the darned tofu. Unlike firm or extra-firm tofu, soft tofu doesn’t get all spongey and stupid when frozen. Instead, its protein turns into flaky, meat-like layers. This is the same basic method I use in my vegan tofu katsu and vegan schnitzel recipe, which you should probably roll up your sleeves and make next, ya’ wild culinary pony, you.
Tamari or Soy Sauce
Tamari (たまり) is a Japanese-style soy sauce with a richer, less salty taste than regular soy sauce. It happens to be made without wheat, so it’s the soy sauce I like to keep on hand since my wife Joey is usually gluten-free. But if that doesn’t matter to you, you can use nama shoyu or regular soy sauce if that’s what you have on hand.
Sake and Mirin
Sake (酒) and mirin (みりん) are both fermented rice-based ingredients often used in Japanese cooking. Sake is a rice wine that adds depth to marinades, while mirin, a sweet rice wine, imparts a backbone of umami sweetness that the tofu needs to be more chicken-y.
If you can’t get mirin, replace it with equal parts rice vinegar and agave nectar. If you can’t get sake, replace it with dry white wine. If you are in recovery, just leave it out. I love ya and am sincerely proud of you!
Rice Vinegar
Rice vinegar (酢, su) is a mild, slightly sweet vinegar made that's aslo from fermented rice. It’s key to the curdling process with plant-based milk, contributing both tang and helping the batter hold on to the tofu. If rice vinegar is unavailable, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice—really just about any acidic stuff—can be used. Heck, probably even your fave mild hot sauce (like sriracha) can be used!
Potato Starch
Potato starch (ポテトスターチ) is a common Japanese ingredient used to create a crisp coating in frying. It works best in this recipe because it produces an ultra-crispy texture, which is key to the karaage experience. If you can't find potato starch, cornstarch, arrowroot, and tapioca starch are all acceptable alternatives, though potato starch creates a slightly lighter coating.
Shichimi Togarashi
Shichimi togarashi (七味唐辛子) is a Japanese spice mix that typically includes chili pepper, sesame seeds, and citrus zest. My shichimi togarashi recipe is hella easy, and you will love it, ok?
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Vegan Karaage Sushi Bake
Make smaller pieces of karaage and use them as a topping for a vegan sushi bake. Drizzled with vegan kewpie (it's a Japanese vegan mayo), this thing is in kinda-embarrassingly frequent rotation for dinners at my house. Probably once every 3 weeks or so, we have it, and my kids really love the leftovers for lunch the following day.
Buffalo Tofu Karaage with Garlic and Black Pepper
Once fried (or air-fried), toss these bad lil’ babies in some vegan buffalo sauce, and pop them into an oven at 350°F (175°C) for 8 minutes so that the buffy sauce can bake in. These are pretty wild as a Super Bowl snacky, or you can rock them on some nachos with vegan sour cream, vegan nacho cheese sauce, avocado, vegan chorizo, and all the other wild fixin’s your deranged little heart might desire.
📖 How to make Tofu Karaage
Nail these mini bites of Japanese fried chicken on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Meet the Press:
Start by pressing the tofu to release excess moisture. You can use a tofu press. But if you’re a straight-up barbarian like me, or want to press several blocks at a time, wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and place it on a wire rack over a baking pan (to catch the water).
Add a slightly heavy object, like a can, on top and let it press for 30-60 minutes. Then, freeze the tofu on a plate or in a container for at least 4 hours.
✅ Don’t freeze the tofu still wrapped in the kitchen towel, or it will take up a lot more room in your freezer, and the thawing process will get messy and annoying on you.
Step Two
Thaw with Pressure:
When thawing the tofu, re-wrap it in a new dry kitchen towel, and press it again to release even more water as it thaws for the next hour or so.
✅ If you are using a tofu press, obviously you don’t need a clean tea towel. But make sure you don’t apply too much pressure to the tofu with the press.
Step Three
Tear Bear Stare:
Once the tofu is properly pressed and thawed, hand-tear it into bite-sized pieces. Don’t worry about making them perfect; just make sure they're big enough to stay juicy inside after frying.
Step Four
Ralph Mari-Nader:
In a bowl, mix together minced garlic, ginger, tamari, sake, and sugar. Add the tofu pieces to the bowl and gently mix to make sure they’re fully coated in that marinade. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge for 4 hours, or even better, overnight for the flavors to really sink in.
✅ Be gentle as you mix the tofu into the marinade. You don’t want your pieces to break up into even tinier bits in particular.
Step Five
Coat-Dependent Relationships:
In a separate bowl, using the tines of a fork, or a super-tiny adorable little whisk if you have one, whisk together plant-based milk and rice vinegar to curdle it. In another bowl, pour out the potato starch, and if using, mix into the shichimi togarashi, or some Japanese curry powder.
Get your fryer to 350°F (175°C), or air-fryer to 375°F (190°C). If using a fryer, make sure the oil is at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep. If you are using an air fryer, make sure to oil the basket liberally with oil or cooking spray.
Dip each piece of marinated tofu into the curdled milk mixture, letting the excess drip off. After that, roll it in the potato starch, ensuring it's completely covered. The starch will give the tofu a crisp and crunchy texture once fried or air-fried.
Step Six
The Frying Dutchman:
Fry or air-fry the coated tofu until it’s golden and crispy, turning occasionally to make sure it cooks evenly.
If air-frying, cook the pieces for 8-10 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through, until the tofu is golden brown and crispy.
Step Seven
In Drain, In The Membrane:
If frying, once the tofu is golden brown all around, remove it from the hot oil with a slotted spoon or spider, and place it on a wire rack suspended over a baking pan to drain any excess oil.
Step Eight
Din Din Time:
Arrange the crispy tofu karaage on a plate. Top with thin slices of cucumber, julienned radishes, and spring onion. If you’re feeling extra, sprinkle some shichimi togarashi or vegan furikake on top.
💡Serving Ideas
If not just on their own, the natural way for me to serve these as part of a meal is to have em on top of vegan Japanese curry and steamed rice. They are also the stuff of legends to have over a big ol' bowl of vegan yakisoba.
A few bangin’ spicy sauces you might want to dip these in are Szechuan chili garlic sauce, Thai nam prik pao, Middle Eastern zhoug sauce, or Indonesian sambal oelek.
Want to eat these on a grilled pretzel bun as a super-dope sandwich? Put some Korean cucumber salad up on that sammy, and perhaps some pickled yamagobo (Japanese pickled burdock root).
👉Top tips
- Oil Temperature is KEY: For the crispiest tofu, it's more than a little important to get the oil temperature right. Aim for 350°F (175°C). Because I make vegan donuts pretty much all the time, I live and die by the side of my frying thermometer, but another good option is a countertop fryer if you have one. If the oil's too cool, your tofu will absorb too much oil and become greasy. Too hot, and it will brown too quickly without cooking through. To check the temperature without a thermometer, dip a single piece of the tofu into the oil—if bubbles form around it, it’s probably ready to go.
- Don’t Make a Huge Mess: “Use a frying pan, they said”, “It will be fun, they said…” NO. Stop right there. That oil’s going to shatter and make clean-up an avoidable pain in the butt. That’s why I like to fry in a Dutch oven or other thick-bottomed pot. When you fry tofu, higher sides will help contain a lot of the splatters and save you a lot of time cleaning grease off your stovetop.
- Don’t Skimp on Pressing: Especially before freezing the tofu, really do give the pressing phase time to remove as much water as possible. This is going to make the difference between regular fried tofu bits and something that has a remarkably meaty texture. Thank me later, m’love.
- Dust Right Before Frying: Get your fryer or air-fryer to temp first, and only then coat your marinated tofu with potato starch or cornstarch just before frying. This prevents the coating from becoming soggy or falling off. If you have a small pot or air fryer, work in batches—coating the subsequent batches just before it’s their turn to cook.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Silken tofu is too soft. Sadly, a pressed silken tofu block will just crumble and turn into a gross cottage-cheese-like consistency when you press it.
While this will work, it’s really not what we are going for here in this recipe. Firm and extra-firm tofu have a more porous structure, and even when pressed first, the remaining molecules of water in the tofu when frozen will explode and leave the tofu with a sponge-like texture once thawed.
The texture of non-veg chicken karaage is not really that much like your trusty kitchen sponge, right? That’s just not the outcome we want to have with these tofu bites either, ok?
Yes, you can substitute cornstarch, arrowroot, or tapioca starch for potato starch in this recipe. All will give your tofu a crispy exterior when fried. Heck, even regular all-purpose flour can work, but it’s a different texture and not as authentic.
A neutral oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, or sunflower oil is best. Avoid flavorful oils such as sesame oil, or oils with low smoke points like olive oil for this project.
The leftover oil will have some fine particles from starch that came off during cooking. Once it has cooled to room temperature, strain the oil through a very fine mesh strainer or a coffee filter to remove the particulates, which will make the oil go rancid quickly.
You can use the recuperated oil for making Tempeh Mendoan, Bakwan Sayur, Vegan Fried Chicken, Thai Spring Rolls, or crispy Onion Bhaji.
I would avoid using the oil for buñuelos or any other sweet recipe because some of the garlic and other flavors from the karaage marinade may have been absorbed by the oil.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating: To reheat tofu karaage on the stovetop, heat a little oil in a pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu pieces and cook for about 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally to ensure they’re heated through and re-crisped on the outside.
🥵 Oven Reheating: For a quick oven reheat, preheat to 400°F (200°C). Place tofu karaage onto a parchment paper-lined baking pan and roast for 8-9 minutes until crisp and heated through.
🧊 Freezing Tofu Karaage: If you want to store tofu karaage for a longer period, freeze it after cooking and cooling. Place the cooled tofu in a single layer on a baking sheet to freeze, then transfer to an airtight container once frozen. It can be stored in the freezer for up to one month.
🌡️ Thawing Tofu Karaage: To thaw frozen tofu karaage, remove it from the freezer and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. For a quicker option, let it thaw on the counter for 1-2 hours. Once thawed, reheat using stovetop or oven methods as mentioned above.
💣 Bomb vegan Japanese recipes you'll love too:
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Tofu Karaage (Japanese Vegan Popcorn Chicken)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. soft tofu not silken
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 4 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons sake or mirin
- 1 tablespoon sugar or coconut sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- ⅔ cup potato starch
- 1 ½ teaspoons shichimi togarashi (optional, but reccomended)
To Fry or Air-Fry:
- 1 ¼ cup canola oil for frying
- Cooking spray for air frying
To Garnish and Serve:
- 1 Persian cucumber sliced
- 1 red radish julienned
- 1 scallion thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon shichimi togarashi optional
Instructions
- Press the tofu to remove excess water. You can do this either with a tofu press, or by wrapping the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and placing it on a wire rack suspended over a baking pan with a can or heavy object on it for 30 minutes. Freeze the pressed tofu in a container for at least 4 hours.
- Thaw the tofu while continuing to press it again to get rid of additional moisture.
- Tear the tofu into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, tamari, sake, and sugar to prepare the marinade. Drizzle the tofu pieces to the marinade, and very gently move them around to ensure they are evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the plant-based milk with rice vinegar to create a curdled mixture. Place the potato starch, and if you are using it, the togarashi, together in another bowl. Dip each piece of marinated tofu into the curdled milk mixture, allowing excess to drip off, then coat thoroughly with potato starch.
- Heat oil in a dutch oven, or wok over medium heat to 350°F (175°C). Fry the coated tofu pieces in batches until golden brown and crisp, turning occasionally for even cooking. Remove and place on a wire rack to drain excess oil.
- Alternatively, preheat an air fryer to 375°F (190°C). Arrange the coated tofu in a single layer in the air fryer basket, ensuring there is space between pieces. Cook for 10-12 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through, until crispy and golden.
- Arrange the tofu karaage on a serving plate and garnish with cucumber slices, julienned radish, and thinly sliced scallion. Sprinkle with shichimi togarashi if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
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Sarah says
Omg so good. I could eat a whole block of tofu like this. Even my tofu hating son asked what I was making because it smelled so good.
hg says
Crispy tofu nuggets are great on their own. I actually placed them on a bed of Asian greens and used the Goma dressing ( recipe on the blog). A complete, satisfying meal!
Kimbi Walton says
The texture of these nuggets is wonderful! I made a double batch and used them in a rice dish, they were great.
Krista Bowers says
I cannot have soy, but I can generally (but not always) sub Pumfu (delicious pumpkin seed tofu). Would that work in this recipe?
Adam Sobel says
I haven't tried pressing and freezing, and pressing pumfu again upon thawing. Now you have me super-curious how it would work out! If you do it, can you please report back with your findings?