Thursday, November 11, 2010

The Tofu Whisperer

Image courtesy of vegansoiree.com
So I signed up to take part in the vegan month of food AKA MoFo blog roll. Essentially you have to post every day. Instead of dwelling on my short comings here, I'm just going to do better :). Today I'm going to blog about Tofu, specifically my friend Sienna who I call "The tofu whisperer" behind her back. I randomly met Sienna at a downtown playgroup, and her epic awesomeness and lifelong vegetarian status makes her one of the coolest people I know. I have always liked tofu, and my children are weirdly obsessed with it. If they see me cooking it, I'm hounded until I give it up. I suppose the bland, whiteness appeals to kids-but adult usually have more discerning palates. Tofu is kind of like flour, not much until you do something with it. Sienna always has some tasty tofu snack at playgroup and has really revitalized my love for the stuff. Her fried tofu was an instant favorite( we looove fried anything!) and is super easy to do.

Sienna's Fried Tofu
1 block firm or extra firm organic tofu
Soy sauce, tamari or Braggs liquid aminos
Nutritional yeast for rolling (probably about half a cup)

Cut tofu first in threes horozontally. This will give you three rectangular shaped slabs-keep them stacked though. Next, cut end to end about 1/4-1/2 inches apart (so your slices look somewhat like french fries.) Have a bowl ready and put a few tablespoons of soy sauce for the tofu to rest in and soak up. Place nutritional yeast in a flat bottomed plate or pan for easy rolling. For each piece, drenge in soy sauce, then roll to coat in nooch (bad ass name for nutritional yeast :). In the meantime, about 1/4 cup cooking oil to med-high heat. Cook tofu in batches, turning to cook each side to golden brown. Be careful, as the water in tofu can make the oil splatter and hurt when turned. Remove from oil when golden on all sides and drain on a plate with cloth or paper towel. This is great cut up and used in fried rice, stir fries, on it's own or in pretty much anything. We like it best with sweet/hot mustard for dipping.

3 comments:

  1. Mmmm I love anything made with tofu, it's the awesomest!

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  2. When my kid was a toddler, he would eat tofu blocks completely uncooked. I mean chomp down cube after cube. Crazy! This recipe sounds good. I really like the combo of yeast flakes + tofu any time it's made that way.

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