FREEZE AND THAW THE TOFU

1.    Place the whole unopened package or packages of tofu in the freezer and freeze until solid (about 6 hours to overnight).

2.    Once solid, let thaw completely. Do this quickly and safely by thawing on the counter until mostly thawed but still very cold (about 2 – 4hours) then let it thaw the rest of the way in the fridge.

3.    Once the tofu is completely thawed, freeze it solid again.Then, you can take it out for the final thaw before making your vegan fried chicken. You can hasten the last thaw by defrosting in the microwave. Tofu that has been thawed the second time should be consumed within as soon as possible (within two days).

TURN TOFU INTO "CHICKEN"

1.    Press the tofu gently but thoroughly to remove most of the water within. See my video tutorial for a demonstration. You should see some natural layers and cracks where the tofu can break into realistic looking meaty chunks. Using a light touch, divide the tofu into eight to 10chunks. You will have some bits leftover; save them. Let the tofu rest on a clean kitchen towel while you prepare the seasoned flour and vegan egg wash.

2.    Mix the seasoned flour ingredients together but leave out the rice crisps; they will go in later. Separately, mix two tablespoons of vegan egg powder with 1/2 cup of ice cold water. Whisk until smooth. Add the remaining water and whisk. The mixture should resemble thin crepe batter. When these dredging mixtures are done, go back to the tofu.

3.    Prepare a wide bowl with your double strength chicken-style broth. Add the tofu pieces, placing them with layers flat; perpendicular to the table. Press down evenly and let go so the tofu can soak up the broth. Drain away excess broth, if any.

4.    Gently transfer a few pieces of the tofu to the seasoned flour. Cover them gently, then scoop them up with loose fingers, shaking the excess off. Place on a plate or baking sheet. Repeat with all of the tofu chunks. When you only have small pieces and bits left, place those in the seasoned flour again. Toss them to coat evenly and be even more diligent about shaking off excess flour. Grab a small handful of them and squeeze gently to help them clump together. Place them on the plate or baking sheet as well. You will have lots of seasoned flour left in the plate. Add the crispy rice puffs to the seasoned flour. crushing about half with your hands.

5.    Starting with the tofu you coated first, dip the pieces in vegan egg wash and let the excess drip off. Place the vegan-egg-coated pieces into the seasoned flour with rice crisps, cover gently and lightly pat so the rice crisps stick on well. Place the coated piece back on the plate or baking sheet. Repeat with the rest.

HOW TO DEEP-FRY THE BEST VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN

1.    Heat a few inches of oil to 350°F in a wok or largeheavy-bottomed pan. Use a frying thermometer to help keep the oil temperaturestable between 350°F and 360°.

2.    Fry your coated vegan 'chicken' in small batches, turningthem occasionally for even cooking, until they are a deep golden colour. Theyshould take 5 whole minutes to cook. If they cook too fast, make sure thetemperature has not exceeded 360°F. If they do not cook fast enough, make surethe temperature is hot enough. Temperature is key to creating the perfectcrispy yet crunchy crust without too much greasiness.

3.    Drain on layers of paper towel or a rack.

OVEN-FRY

1.    Place the coated vegan 'chicken' on a parchment-linedbaking sheet. Spray or drizzle generously with oil to create a crunchy exteriorand oven-fried effect. Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 30 minutes, flippingthe pieces at the 15-minute mark.

AIR FRYING

1.   Lightly spay your air fryer basket with oil. Place thecoated vegan "chicken" pieces in the basket, leaving an inch of spacearound each piece. Spray the tops of the pieces with oil, then air-fry at 400°Ffor 10 minutes.

2.   Flip the pieces, spray oil on the other side and air-fryfor another 10 – 15 minutes or until they are golden and crispy on the outside.Avoid leaving them in the air fryer too long or they may become too dry on theinside.

SERVE!

1.   Serve the Best Vegan Fried Chicken immediately afterfrying/ baking/ or air-frying! Add your favourite seasonings on top or just alittle extra salt and pepper.

Notes

VEGAN "EGG"

Using either chickpea flour or VeganEgg (by Follow YourHeart/ Earth Island) produces the best results. Flax/chia egg is also okay (butnot as crispy and light). If you use ground flax or chia, mix 2 tablespoons ofthe ground seed with 1/2 cup lukewarm water).

GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR RECOMMENDED!

While you can use regular all-purpose flour, I found thatusing Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour makes the exterior even more crispyand light. You can also try replacing some of the flour for potato or ricestarch to lighten up regular flour.

WHAT IS MEDIUM FIRM TOFU?

Buy tofu packed in water. As a rough guide, the firmness islike the fleshy part of your palm just under your thumb.

To get more technical, the medium firm tofu that I usecontain: 

·       water,

·       soybeans (non-GMO),

·       calcium sulphate, and

·       glucono-delta-lactone

The macros per 100 grams are:

·       82 calories

·       2.3 g carbohydrate

·       4.7 g fat

·       8.2 – 9.4 g protein

If the tofu that you buy goes grainy instead of flaky afterfreezing, try the next softer tofu in the same brand.

TESTED TOFU BRANDS THAT GO FLAKY

1.   This recipe was tested with Superior Tofu, T&T brand,and Sunrise Tofu; all worked when using medium firm or traditional. Not firm,not extra firm. Firm + extra firm will still taste ok but you can't call it"the best!" They don't develop the layered effect and retain morewater. The soft or smooth (not silken) versions may develop the layered effectas well but are just a tad softer. But it's not as good as using medium firm ortraditional. The soft/smooth ones taste more tofu-ish.

2.   I'm in western Canada and have no access to other brands.Please let me know in the comments if you try other brands and how it workedout for you. TIA! ?

3.   FIRM AND EXTRA FIRM DO NOT CREATE LAYERS. This bearsrepeating ?

OTHER VIEWER TESTED BRANDS

1.   House brand SOMETIMES WORKS with medium firm. I've seenphotos from readers who have tried with this brand and it works only sometimes.IE, sometimes it comes out spongy but other times it comes out flaky. You canalso try soft; some people have reported that House Brand in SOFT works.

2.   Sprouts Brand DOES NOT WORK with medium. You might have success with SOFT.

3.   Good news, AUSTRALIA!! Fortune in Smooth Silken Pressed Tofu goes flaky! Verified by viewer photos.

4.   Trader Joe's Organic Tofu (magenta label) WORKS! It does not have an additional "firmness" indicated on the label (so not the firm/extra firm).