Tofu deep-fried until golden, sold ready-made in markets. The puffy kind, 油豆腐 in the south and 豆腐泡 in the north, is spongy inside and soaks up broth in braises and hotpot, or is stuffed with minced pork.
Fried tofu is crispy outside and tender inside - really delicious.
Tips
mistakes
In this word 炸 is read zhá ('to deep-fry'), not zhà ('to explode'). The same character with two tones is a classic source of learner errors; food contexts always take zhá.