Air-Fried Zai Er
This is a 5-minute recipe for air-fried vegetarian soya bean curd skin (not made from scratch). You may know it better as “zai er” or 齋鹅 (vegetarian mock goose). Call me biased, but I do think that it is the single most delicious item on the vegetarian bee hoon stall menu. Since I always can’t have enough of it, I like buying a whole packet of zai er just to snack on. But they are quite oily since they are deep-fried.
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It is only very recently, through Singapore Home Cooks (a popular local facebook cooking sharing group) that I learnt from contributer Christina Kwan that it is possible to air fry the zai er, instead of deep frying, and it only takes 5 minutes! The air-fried zai er is as crispy as the deep-fried version, and not as oily. This is a much healthier and fuss-free option (no oil needed at all). Now I can have zai er at home any time I have craving for it (which is quite often). Thank you for sharing, Christina :)
A – The packet of zai er I used, from Giant supermaket (frozen section). Normal price S$5.95. It’s labelled crispy sweet soya.
B – Arrange zai er one layer on the fryer basket (minimize overlapping too much) or else the parts unexposed to the heat will be uncooked.
C – Optional: If you want to cook more at one go, you can add a wire rack inside the air fryer basket to cook a second layer of zai er at the same time, but note that the ones on the upper rack will brown faster (you may take them out a minute earlier, if preferred).
Air-Fried Zai Er (Vegetarian Mock Goose)
To avoid overcrowding the air fryer to ensure even cooking, I cook about 50 grams of zai er at a time. You may cook as many batches as you like. After the first batch, you do not need to preheat the airfryer again.
Ingredients:
- 50 grams ready-made zai er (vegetarian mock goose) for one round of cooking
Directions:
- Use kitchen scissors to cut zai er into smaller pieces.
- Preheat air fryer at 160°C (320°F) for 5 minutes. Arrange zai er one layer on the fryer basket (minimize overlapping too much) and slide the basket into the airfryer. Set timer and air fry for 5 minutes. Store in air-tight container for a few days.
Credit: Christina Kwan from Singapore Home Cooks