It’s just regular firm tofu, not even silken. I think there’s something about shallow (or deep) frying that makes it so smooth, almost like it’s melted or something!

Sure!

So here’s the recipe for the tofu katsu: https://sarahsvegankitchen.com/recipes/tofu-katsu/#recipe

And here is the original (carnist) recipe for the curry which I’ve adapted: https://www.sbfoods-worldwide.com/recipes/012.html

For the curry, I normally use some sort of vegan meat substitute that’ll brown well to develop a good frond as a base. Just brown some vegan sausage; that’s a good step 0. If you don’t want to do that, I’d just add more minced onions and cook longer in step #1. This is where you get your depth of flavour.

That said, I don’t normally make the curry with the tofu katsu. So if you’re going with the katsu route, you really don’t need the 2nd protein of the vegan sausage. That’s why I recommend adding more onion for depth of flavour.

The S&B curry powder really doesn’t have a good substitute, so you’ll need to order it from wherever you can get it.

You can get off amazon, but if you’d like, I’d be happy to share the ingredient label, if you don’t want to support a PBC company, although that info is fairly easily accessible.

Hmm, I didn’t have any problem with that. The 3 part dredge usually secures it pretty well.

I’m honestly a bit surprised you’re having trouble. Shallow frying makes it a lot easier than pan frying/sautéeing because the tofu is essentially floating, so it shouldn’t be sticking to the bottom which is where I normally run into trouble with battered tofu.

I did mine in a really small pan because I didn’t plan on filtering the oil for re-use, and I didn’t want to waste too much oil, but the down side was doing one piece at a time for 2+ minutes per side, well… 2m * 2 sides * 8 pcs = 32min and that’s on the low end. It shouldn’t make any difference if you do it in a large pan, though.

Here are a few things I can think of:

• Make sure you’ve got enough oil - it should come up over half way on the sides of the tofu.
• Wait until the oil is fully up to temperature before you start, and check it with a thermometer occasionally while you’re cooking.
• Press the tofu beforehand to get out most of the moisture. If it releases too much steam while cooking, it might loosen the batter. You still do want some moisture so the flour dredge sticks, though, so you don’t have to go crazy here.
• I normally use tongs to flip it/ take it out.
• Don’t disturb it while it’s cooking, set a timer if it helps, or just check a clock.

I’m not sure if any of that helps. If not, let me know at what point the batter normally comes off for you?

Thanks! Lemme know how it goes! ^^