Finger-lickin' Tofu Cutlets
Tofu:
1 pound extra firm tofu, drained or pressed
2 tablespoons oil, for frying
1/2 cup flour, for dredging
1/2 cup nondairy milk Breading:
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt and generous grind pepper
thyme, to taste
cayenne, to taste
sage, to taste
1. Cut tofu into three portions the long way so you have flat cutlet shaped pieces. Heat oil in large frying pan.
2. Mix cornmeal, flour, nutritional yeast, and seasonings together and pour out onto large plate or shallow bowl. Place additional 1/2 cup flour on separate plate or shallow bowl.
3. Place milk in another separate shallow bowl. Dredge tofu slices in this order:1. plain flour 2. milk 3. seasoned flour mixture.
4. Fry breaded tofu in oil about 5 minutes each side.
The extra steps of dredging the tofu in flour and soymilk makes the breading stick extra well so these fry up nice and flavorful and crunchy. You can use these in sandwiches or in any meal that a flavorful protein addition is needed. I make them to use in a sandwich that I'm now addicted to: Two slices good chewy bread, avocado, vegenaise, lots of hot sauce, and greens such as sprouts, lettuce or spinach, and a tofu cutlet. It's a dream.
Enjoy!
Source of recipe: Tofu cutlets like I used to get at the Bellingham co-op.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Wanted something different and this was great. I seasoned the cornmeal mixture with garlic, cumin, and cayenne and it came out great. Tofu was frozen first and thawed and pressed out. I used two different kinds -- one plain and one I had seasoned and baked. I have to say that we all liked the plain one best. The breading stayed on without issue. Having the pan hot enough is half the solution and not overcrowding the pan either. Definitely a keeper!
The breading was good. I used frozen and thawed tofu and squeezed out most of the water, but I think I would have liked this better if I had simmered the tofu in vegetable broth for 10-20 minutes (I've used this method before when making fried tofu), as the tofu itself was bland.
To make the breading stick better, I mixed some rice flour, water, and a little seasoning (like a thin pancake batter) and dipped the tofu in this batter before I breaded it. I had little breading come off as I fried the cutlets. I did add some garlic to the breading and used poultry seasoning instead of thyme and sage. I also battered and breaded some potatoes. The breaded French fries were even better than the tofu.
This had a very good flavor. I plan to eliminate the cornmeal next time, just to see. I do think that it is what contributes to the crunch. I only had vanilla soymilk so I watered down Veganaise and added some flour to thicken. Worked well. Helped to to eliminate the flour then milk step. On the last piece, I dipped in Veganaise, then into the flour/cornmeal stuff, then back in the veganaise stuff. Worked nicely too.
Thanks again for the great recipe. BTW-I used savory baked tofu. It has almost zero water, so I could use it staight from the package and not have to deal with sogginess.
This was a great dish. I cut my tofu widthwise instead of lengthwise, but that is never a problem. My tofu slices were fairly dry when I dredged with the flour, and it stuck well. I agree that there's too much dredging mixture, so I will have to cut it in half. I used fresh-ground pepper, sage, and garlic powder, and then I made a packet of Road's End Herb Gravy.
AWESOME!
Yum! I was wanting something tasty and easy for dinner last night and so decided to try this.
It was easy to make and so yummy.
I totally copied caroleena and used the mayo/dijon mix to coat the tofu first and then used the breading. Once I had done this I then baked for about 20mins at 180C, which I think is about 370 or so. I flipped the tofu halfway through and both sides got nice and crisp.
I added salt, pepper, onion powder, cayenne and parmazano to the breading and the taste was awesome.
Inspired by AllyChristine, I dipped my tofu in the sweet dijon sauce from this recipe: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=27394.0
Thanks for the recipe - and thanks to caroleena for suggesting oven baking.
The dijon sauce went really well with the tofu and I would definitely recommend it.
Caroleena2! I'm going to try it with the variations you used. Sounds awesome. I'm always looking for ways to not fry the hell out of things also. Yum.
If you make sure your tofu is pretty well dried off first you should have no problems getting the flour to stick to it. I've also made this with panko instead of the cornmeal.
I tried it again, and this time I baked it. It turned out well! Here's what I did differently (FWIW)...
1. I cut the tofu super-thin--I got maybe 5-6 squares out of 1/4 of a block of tofu
2. I was out of soymilk so I spread some TJ's lowfat mayonnaise (vegan) and a bit of yellow mustard on the tofu for something sticky. (Idea courtesy of the eggplant pomodoro on this site)
3. I left the flour out of the breading because I plain forgot. So, I had cornmeal, nooch, salt, onion powder, and cayenne.
4. I baked it in my toaster oven for like... 15 minutes or so at 375? Maybe? I turned once halfway through.
I think the mustard in the sticky part and the higher nooch-to-breading ratio helped it to be more flavorful to me. Cayenne was great too... and this is from someone who really doesn't do spicy food.
I have more leftover breading mix in the fridge and I hope to use it again!
This was actually really good. My tofu came out looking exactly like ADistillio's picture. As far as the breading not sticking like I read in a previous post, I didn't have that problem, surprisingly, not sure why I didn't and the other person did. I did change the recipe slightly, I did the recipe exactly except I didn't add any cornmeal. And next time I do this I may try a different spice blend, it came out a bit bland, but all in all good, it had a great crispy crust. I may look up what spices are used for chicken fingers and try that next time. I fried in vegetable oil and used a non-stick skillet. As far as baking, not sure if that would work but I may try that next time. Thanks for the recipe.
This is a great recipe! I only wish I could have tried it the way it is actually called for, but the damn moths got to my polenta...so I used breadcrumbs instead! They worked perfectly well. I also did not have much of a variety of seasonings to work with, so I just used oregano, garlic salt, and TONS of pepper.I imagine they'd taste even better with some cayenne pepper. These cutlets are really good with a side salad or mashed potatoes for dinner. I'm going to try them in a sandwich to take to work.
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