You’ve never had nuggets like these. These Tofu Nuggets taste more like popcorn chicken than popcorn chicken itself. They are super crispy and flavorful on the outside and squishy, soft on the inside. Insane!
Remove the tofu from the packaging, pack it in a freezer bag, and freeze it overnight. Then defrost the tofu at room temperature (4-5 hours) over a slotted spatula in a bowl so that the water can drip off and collect at the bottom of the bowl. Carefully squeeze out excess water.
Break the defrosted tofu into chunks – you can make them smaller or larger – whatever you like. Pour 1/4 cup of pickle brine over the chunks, the tofu will soak it up very quickly.
In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the batter.
In another bowl, combine the ingredients for the breading.
Toss the tofu chunks into the batter first.
Then coat them in the breading.
Heat a pot or small wok with frying oil. Carefully fry the breaded tofu nuggets in batches until they are crispy and brown. This took 10 minutes for me - per batch.
Place the fried tofu nuggets on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
*you can sub panko flakes for fine breadcrumbs and vice versa, but a combination of both is giving a better texture and is making sure they are nicely coated