https://www.youtube.com/embed/-zkj_8bOd58
Greetings! Today I'm sharing a few of my favorite
tofu recipes. These are ones I make literally all the time. They're all easy and delicious and I
hope you give them a try and love them as much as I do. First off, we are going to be making crispy
baked tofu and tossing it in a Korean-inspired sweet and spicy gochujang sauce. This baked tofu
recipe works best with either firm or extra firm tofu. And here is an additional step I like to
take to make the texture a little more chewy and meaty: usually I freeze a block of tofu directly
in the package then I defrost it and thoroughly press out the extra water.
This time I wanted to
see if it made any difference to press it before freezing it. I think they came out roughly the
same. But once it's defrosted and pressed you can either cut it into cubes or tear it into irregular
pieces. This is my preference because the craggy edges crisp up in the oven and they create more
surface area for the sauce to cling to. Now our little tofu nuggies go into a big mixing bowl
and we're gonna drizzle them with olive oil, or you can use any neutral oil of your choice,
a little bit of salt and black pepper and some onion and garlic powder, just for the heck
of it. It's not technically necessary if your sauce is really flavorful but, can't hurt. Give
that a toss, be gentle because the tofu can be a little delicate at this stage. I find using
a flexible rubber spatula really helps to keep the pieces intact. Now we're going to toss
our seasoned tofu with a few tablespoons of starch to help it crisp up in the oven.
I have
tested this with cornstarch and potato starch, you can make any other substitutions at your
own discretion. And again, just toss to coat the tofu as evenly as possible. Then we arrange
our tofu nuggets on a lined baking tray. Try to leave a little space between them so they crisp up
evenly. Pop those in a preheated 425 degree oven, you're going to bake those for 15 minutes, pull
the tray out, give the tofu a little flippy, pop it back in for another 15 to 20 minutes or
until the tofu is nice and crispy and golden brown. Exact time is going to vary depending
on how much of the moisture you are able to press out of the tofu at the beginning, so just
keep an eye on it. And while it's cooking is a great time to throw together your sweet and spicy
gochujang sauce.
So I adapted this from Joshua Weissman's Korean fried chicken recipe. It's a
lot of ingredients but it's worth it, trust me. The base of the sauce is gochujang, which is a
Korean red pepper paste. I actually see this at most regular grocery stores in the international
section nowadays but if you can't find it there, check your local Asian market. All of your sauce
ingredients can go directly into a skillet, set that over medium heat, and we're going to just
gently simmer it, everything for a few minutes, just to mellow out the bite of the raw garlic. If
you feel like the sauce needs a splash of water to thin it out, go ahead and add it. This is the
consistency we are looking for. Now mind you, this sauce can also be used with any other protein
or on noodles. And now our baked tofu's done. Look at that coating! Go ahead and toss it into your
skillet. Give it a good stir to get that sauce into every nook and cranny. And I love serving
this gochujang tofu with fresh steamed rice and broccoli. To me, this is like a cheaper and
healthier version of something I would order as take out.
It really kind of scratches that itch
for me. And hopefully it goes without saying that you can make the crispy baked tofu and pair
it with any kind of store-bought sauce you like for a super easy lunch or dinner. You
don't have to make the sauce from scratch. This tofu recipe's super fun. I used to
love eating fried eggs with a runny yolk for breakfast and this kind of satisfies that
craving for me. Now mind you, we are not trying to make some kind of freakishly realistic egg
substitute today. We're not doing any like, Sauce Stache voodoo magic here, but this is going
to be a really delicious, savory, high-protein breakfast option. Simple Truth has these mini
blocks of tofu that I like to use when I don't want to make a huge amount. You can just use half
of a block of firm or extra-firm tofu for this, or you could make the whole block.
It's really
flexible. You'll see what I mean in a little bit. Cut it into slices somewhere between a quarter and
an eighth of an inch, and you can blot the extra liquid off your tofu, I usually don't bother when
I'm making this though. Go ahead and grab a big, preferably non-stick skillet and add in some vegan
butter or your favorite cooking oil. Personally, I always used to fry my eggs in butter so those
two flavors just kind of go together in my brain, so I'm using some Miyoko's Cultured Vegan
Butter.
And you're gonna pan-fry your tofu slices on medium-high heat, just a few minutes
per side until golden brown. Then go ahead and hit those with a little bit of salt and black
pepper and while you're working on that, you can have a second little pot right next door with our
runny vegan yolk sauce. Now just think about the ingredients we typically use to season a classic
tofu scramble: so we've got some nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, you can add some
paprika if you like ,and then some black salt, which is going to give it that funky, eggy smell.
You can find this at your local Indian grocer or online.
I usually make this with water...I wanted
to try using some soy milk this time to add in some extra protein and honestly, I wouldn't
bother. I think the flavor and consistency is better with just plain water. You'll also need
your favorite thickening starch and your favorite neutral cooking oil or some more vegan butter.
Water is going to go into a small saucepan or frying pan. Add in the rest of the ingredients
except for the black salt, okay? We're going to save that to the end because it does lose a lot
of that distinctive eggy aroma when it's cooked. I also added in a pinch of turmeric just for color.
Whisk everything together and then bring it to a simmer over medium high heat and let it thicken.
Make sure to whisk it regularly to prevent any clumps from forming and once it has reached a
nice, thick yolky consistency, you can remove it from the heat and stir in that black salt. Similar
to actual runny egg yolks, this sauce does develop a little bit of a skin as it sits, so just give it
a little stir before you're ready to serve it to reincorporate that.
And all I do is take my little
fried tofu slices, I lay those out on a plate or on a slice of toast, drizzle over your glorious,
glorious sauce as much as you like. Then I like to add some fresh sliced scallions. Sometimes I'll
do like a little shake of smoked paprika. And this recipe is just so delicious. It's savory, it's
really simple, it's so filling because tofu is really high in protein. You'll probably have some
leftover yolk sauce that'll keep in the fridge for a few days. Just reheat it in a pan with a little
extra splash of water because it does thicken. The sauce on its own is just great for dipping
toast in.
And really quickly, before anyone says, "if you want eggs so much why don't you just eat
eggs??" Um, silence, insolent mortal. Go watch Gordon Ramsay make undercooked scrambled eggs
again, leave me in peace. [Ramsay] "Little bit creamy...scrambled eggs to die for." Up next,
we've got a really foundational recipe for a simple crispy breaded tofu that can be either
fried, baked, or air fried. Today I'm turning it into Buffalo tofu strips, but you can toss
or dip them into any kind of sauce your little heart desires. Firm or extra firm tofu work best
for this recipe and you can kind of cut it into any shape you like. You could do one inch cubes to
make little Buffalo tofu bites. Today, I'm cutting them into strips which are great for dipping.
I
do recommend doing the freezing and defrosting trick to make them a little more meaty in texture,
but I forgot so we're just gonna do a quick press. So after cutting your tofu, lay it out on one half
of a clean kitchen towel, fold the other half over top, and weigh it down with something of moderate
weight like a cutting board or a plate. Let that go for about 15 minutes and during this time we're
going to prepare a really simple batter. This is going to adhere our breadcrumbs to our tofu.
This
will be about a fourth a cup of your favorite flour along with a teaspoon each of onion and
garlic powder and paprika. Add in salt and pepper, whisk it together, and then whisk in enough water
to form a batter similar in consistency to pancake batter. You'll also want to add about a cup of
Panko bread crumbs to a dish and season with salt and pepper. You can also use regular breadcrumbs
or crushed cornflakes. Now it's time to go ahead and dip your pressed tofu, first into the seasoned
batter. Let any excess drip off and then into the breadcrumbs to coat them. As I mentioned before, I
tested three cooking methods: I baked them, fried them, and air fried them, so if you're baking or
air frying them I would recommend spraying them with a little bit of vegetable oil to help
them crisp up.
It's not strictly necessary, but I do just think it improves the texture. If
you're baking, you're going to bake them in a 400 degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, flipping
them at the halfway point. I feel like different brands of air fryers vary but in my Ninja air
fryer at 375 degrees, they took about 18 minutes to be perfectly crispy. And honestly, I prefer the
texture of the air fried ones to the baked ones. And lastly, you can shallow fry them in a neutral
cooking oil for about three minutes per side until they're evenly golden brown. Obviously I thought
these tasted the best but usually I'm not frying things unless it's like, a special occasion. So my
personal recommendation, if you have an air fryer, is to use that. However you choose to cook
your breaded tofu, all that remains is to toss it in your favorite sauce. My favorite combo
is Frank's Red Hot with some melted vegan butter. Barbecue sauce is another favorite, and sometimes
I'll just whip up a batch of these as a snack, but usually I'm making this crispy tofu to put on
top of either a Buffalo salad with ranch dressing, or I'll make it and toss it in barbecue sauce
to put on top of like, a southern bowl with vegan mac and cheese or some mashed potatoes
and a side of collard greens - it's so good. So hopefully you give this classic breaded
tofu a try and enjoy it as much as I do. Before we move on, I did want to say
especially if you're new to cooking tofu, a good non-stick skillet is going to be your best
friend because tofu does have a tendency to stick, especially if you don't like to cook with a lot
of oil.
The non-stick cookware I'm using in this video is by Caraway and full disclosure, they did
gift us this set. But we've been testing them out for the past few months and we really do like
them. They are very non-stick, as you can see, and most importantly they're non-toxic;
they're made with a ceramic coating. And they're very easy to clean. They don't require
any seasoning or maintenance like cast iron. I've gone through a lot of cheap non-stick pans over
the years, and the non-stick always wears out, worst case it starts to chip or flake off into
the food, and I definitely notice the difference in quality and durability with the Caraway.
So
while this video isn't sponsored, they have given us a discount code that you can use if you're
looking to invest in some really high quality, non-toxic cookware that's also really beautiful.
They're available in lots of different colors and they come with these really nice organizers
and a lid holder. And if you do use the code, it does support the channel, so thank you.
And with that let's get back into the recipes! Let's move on to our next recipe.
We are going
to make these ridiculously easy and delicious tofu lettuce wraps. These are great when you're
craving something that's really fresh and healthy and light but that's still really filling and
savory and flavorful. First a little bit of prep work. Dice up a white onion, then you're
going to mince up as much garlic as you like, and then you're going to either mince up or grate
some fresh ginger. So freezing the ginger ahead of time makes it very easy to grate, or if you're
someone who's in need of recipes with minimal prep work, you can just buy ginger paste and pre-minced
garlic at the store, there's no shame in that. I am obsessed with water chestnuts. I love how crisp
they are. They just add the most satisfying crunch to the lettuce wrap filling, so just give those a
coarse chop. And lastly I'm slicing up a few fresh green onions. You don't have to add these, we're
already adding in the white onion, I know, but if you do have them, they just add extra freshness
and color to the filling.
One last little bit of prep work here is to prepare your lettuce cups.
Butter lettuce is my favorite to use for these but you can honestly use whatever kind you like,
even iceberg. You can also use romaine leaves, but they'll be more like tofu lettuce tacos than
wraps, if you know what I mean. Now you're going to heat a non-stick skillet over medium high
heat and drizzle in a little bit of your favorite cooking oil.
Crumble in a block of firm or extra
firm tofu and pressing it is actually optional for this recipe. Let me explain why. Right now, we're
gonna pan fry the tofu until it's golden brown. If you pressed it ahead of time there will be less
liquid to cook off before the tofu starts to brown, so it will happen faster. But if you didn't
press it, you'll just need to add on a few extra minutes of cook time so that the liquid evaporates
first and then the tofu can brown. Once the tofu has developed some of that beautiful golden brown
color, go in with your onions and stir fry for another three to five minutes. Now toss in your
chopped water chestnuts, minced garlic, ginger, and green onions and keep stir frying for another
two to three minutes. As far as seasoning goes, I'm going to give you two options. Number one:
vegan oyster sauce. This one is mushroom based and it packs a ton of umami. It's also a little sweet.
If you like the idea of making stir fries but you don't want to make a sauce from scratch with a
bunch of separate ingredients every time, this is kind of like an all-purpose stir-fry seasoning.
The second option is hoisin sauce, which is generally a little easier to find.
A lot of
regular grocery stores carry it. It's savory, it's sweet, it's definitely a different flavor profile
than the oyster sauce, but either one will taste delicious in this recipe. So just add in a few
tablespoons of either one along with a tablespoon of soy sauce, and then optionally you can add in
some chili paste. Stir fry that until there's no extra liquid in the pan and then these are ready
to serve in your beautiful lettuce boats.
I think these are great topped with some fresh scallions
and chopped peanuts or some other kind of chopped roasted nuts for some crunch. And the best part
is these taste great whether the filling is hot or cold, so if you have leftovers they make a super
low maintenance lunch or dinner for the next day. Thank you so much for watching today's video.
Recipes will be on my website, linked down below, and I would love to know how they turn out
for you if you try them. Subscribe if you haven't already for more plant-based recipes
and I will see you in my next video! [Music].
