Salted Egg Tofu Recipe

This Salted Egg Tofu Recipe is an easy but delicious recipe on the table in under 30 minutes- the fried tofu is crispy and smothered with a creamy, buttery salted egg sauce that has the spice of the chilli and goes so well with white rice.

Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients:

• salted egg: These are actually so easy to make at home (traditionally from ducks eggs but chicken eggs also work), there's no need to stress about where to get them- you can try my Great Grand Mother's brined salted egg recipe here. The only downside is you need time- at least 1-2 days if making the quick version. If you need the salted eggs NOW, you can check out the nearest Asian grocery store or Chinese supermarket.
• egg tofu: The egg tofu complements the salted egg yolk sauce. If you don't have egg tofu, silken tofu or Japanese tofu is good too. Just be careful when frying the silken one as it breaks SUPER easily. (I wouldn't recommend it if you're not experienced with cooking tofu.)
• rice flour: this is to give the tofu a crispy coating to absorb the sauce
• curry leaves: In Singapore, these are not optional as the earthy-citrus flavor of the curry leaves help to balance the richness of the sauce. I've never tried cooking it without. However, in Vietnam, there is a salted egg yolk tofu dish called “đậu sốt trứng muối“ or“đậu chiên trứng muối” that doesn't use curry leaves, so you can omit if you can't get them.
• butter, salt/ fish sauce, white sugar: use unsalted butter so you can season to your liking. Even though you're using salted eggs, you still need salt or fish sauce to accentuate the flavor.
• red chili: like with the curry leaves, the chilies help to balance the creamy sauce.
• Optional ingredients: The tofu is soft and I find that a bit of crunch helps to elevate the dish- feel free to toss in some plain cornflakes for texture.

In Singapore, curry leaves and chilli can't be omitted when cooking anything (savoury) salted egg, as it helps to make what could be potentially too rich a sauce, just nice. (If you like growing your own food, as I do, I have more edible garden recipes here.)

Expert Tips

1. If you put your cooked ducks eggs in the fridge, the yolk will be cold and hard, making it difficult to mash. (It's best to cook the yolks right before you make the sauce.) If there are still big lumps in the duck egg yolk, press it through a sieve. (Don't skip the mashing or your sauce will be rather clumpy- I was lazy and tried, to my regret.)
2. If you plan to serve the tofu later- for example if you're waiting for guests- double frying them helps to keep them crispy. The key to a good salted egg tofu is a crispy tofu (the corn flour or rice flour coating is so important!) and a rich and creamy salted egg sauce! Soggy tofu doesn't make anyone happy.
3. Don't sauté the salted egg yolks for too long or it'll separate from the butter and your sauce will split.
4. Instead of stir frying the tofu in the pan, I prefer to pour the sauce over the fried tofu on a plate- this helps to make sure that the delicate tofu doesn't break. (You'll have to make sure the pieces all get some sauce, or they'll taste a bit bland- more sauce is always better than too little!
5. Save the salted egg whites for these recipes!

🍛 Suggested Accompanying Recipes

Enjoyed this authentic Cantonese salted egg tofu Recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked the creamy, savory salted egg sauce, please consider supporting my Asian food recipes by buying me a bottle of soy sauce! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you for trying this easy recipe and have a great day!

Any questions about this salted egg tofu recipe? Let me know in the comments!