Tofu nuggets - revisited

There are some recipes that we make over and over.  One is tofu nuggets, the vegan cousin of the much maligned chicken nuggets.  They are delicious hot off the frypan, cold the next day or chopped up into so many dishes.  I first wrote about them in 2011 - yes 12 years ago - when I first made them.  Now I have made them enough to write them up again with much more experience.

These are not the easiest meal but the recipe makes quite a lot so usually we have leftovers.  Sometimes I wish Sylvia would eat tofu nuggets from the supermarket.  But she prefers homemade.  More often I wish more cafes would serve tofu nuggets.  Very few do.  Perhaps very few kids love tofu nuggets as much as my daughter.  I guess not so many have had them since they were toddlers.

Sylvia sometimes requests tofu nuggets for dinner.  I made her these tofu nuggets recently and was in the flow.  It seemed easier than usual.  It might have been that I had a little more energy or that the equipment was right.  These days I have a tofu press and a cast iron frypan.  That makes a difference!  My daughter is also old enough to help with making tofu nuggets.

The tofu is not marinated so it can be a bit bland but the crumb coating is full of flavour and when eaten with tomato sauce or aioli these are really good.  I adapted a recipe from Vegan Dad that used poultry spice.  This is not a spice mix I have ever had.  But I often have a spice mix that I need to get through.  I like that the nuggets are often slightly different in flavour depending on what is around.  Though for me the best bit is that the crispy coating reminds me of the fish fingers I loved as a kid without the fishy taste.

When I first started to make these tofu nuggets many years ago I would bake them.  They were pretty good but I find my oven frustratingly slow.  Once I started to fry them in my cast iron frypan, I could get them much crispier and much quicker.  

Once cooked they are a great versatile protein, a substitute for meat in all sorts of dishes.  They work well as either as the protein component of a meat and two veg style meal or in a pasta dish or with a stirfry sauce or with some salads in summer.  I have used them in a few dishes on my blog and include links to these and other serving suggestions at the end of the recipe.

One thing I have always disliked about crumbing foods is the leftovers in the dipping bowls.  Lately I have been mixing the leftovers with whatever is about: On the occasion of the above photo I mixed it with cauliflower rice and ground almonds.  Then I fried these fritters and added them to spaghetti with tomato sauce.  Delicious!

More basic proteins on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog:

• Nut roast (v)
• Tofu bacon (gf, v)
  
• Cashew cream (gf, v)
• Tofu besan omelette (gf, v)
• Tofu nut balls (v) 
  
  

Tofu nuggets
adapted from Vegan Dad via Green Gourmet Giraffe
serves 4-6

• 500g (about 1 lb) firm tofu*
• oil or oil spray, for cooking
  

Milk mixture

• 3/4 cup soy milk*
• 1 tbsp seeded mustard
• 1 tbsp chopped chives or 1 tsp onion flakes
  
• 1/4 tsp chilli paste, or more
  
• 1/4 tsp salt

Flour mixture

• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour*
• 1 tsp seasoning mix of choice*
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Crumb mixture

• 1 cup crushed cornflakes (or 3 cups of uncrushed cornflakes, crushed in a blender)*
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs* 
  

Press tofu for at least 30 minutes.  This is best done with a tofu press but if you don't have one you can put the tofu on a chopping board and top with your heavy stuff such as chopping boards, cookbooks, big tins of legumes etc.  

Slice into squares (3x3x3) or rectangles (3x4x2) .  For rectangles, I cut into three layers, then cut stack in half on top, half these again to make 4 piles of rectangles and then halve each rectangle into two shorter rectangles to get about 24 nuggets.  If I want square I cut three layers and then cut into three piles of rectangles and then cut into three piles the other way so they are square.  See diagram below.

Place milk into a deep bowl, and the flour mixture and crumb mixture into shallow bowls.  Dip the tofu pieces in milk, flour, milk, crumbs and place on a plate.  Use two forks to dip in milk and move from bowl to bowl so you minimise handling.  Have spoons to make sure they are well covered with flour and then crumbs.  When  dipping in milk for the second time, make sure the flour coating is all moist but don't have in the milk too long or the flour will dissolve into the milk which will become thicker than is good for dipping.

Now that you have your tufo crumbed, you can set it aside for later (which I don't usually do but could help if you need to prepare earlier) or cook by either baking or frying: 

To bake:

Place crumbed tofu pieces on a lined oven tray.  Spray with oil.  Bake at 220 C (or less if your oven is not as slow as mine)  for about 15 minutes.  Turn them over and spray the other side with oil.  Return to the oven for about 10 minutes or until crisp.

To fry:

I highly recommend a cast iron pan if you have one.  Heat to medium high and add some oil to generously cover the pan.  Use tongs to lower crumbed tofu into oil and it should be almost golden brown on the underside once you have them all on the pan.  Turn over and fry until the underside is golden brown.  Use tongs to turn to the side and give a little press on hot pan - rotate and repeat until all side fried.  Remove from heat to a paper towel lined plate.  Can be kept warm in low oven if required.

NOTES:

• You can use other milks but we usually use soy milk, which makes them vegan.  
• If the milk mixture becomes really thick, add a little extra milk to thin it out.
  
• The seasoning mix depends on your preferences.  I like a tex mex sort of seasoning mix or a dukkah.  If you don't have a seasoning mix, I have used a mix of smoked paprika, cumin, stock powder, allspice and black salt.
  
• Sometimes I just blend up breadcrumbs out of old bread in the freezer.  Lately I have been using panko breadcrumbs which are excellent.
• These can be made gluten free with GF flour, GF breadcrumbs and GF cornflakes. 
• The mixture can be used on cauliflower instead of tofu: lightly steam the florets of the head of cauliflower for about 10 min until tender.  Dip in the crumb coating.  I baked it for 20 minutes at 240 C.  Delicious!  I would love to try it with eggplant slices too.  Lots of vegetables would work here.
  
• Mix leftover dipping mixtures together with ground almonds, peanut butter or mashed tofu and make into fritters or "cheat balls".
  

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• As finger food for kids
  
• In a Katsu Curry
• Chopped on Pizza
• Chopped up in a Sushi Salad (or a sushi handroll)
• In a Taco or Tortilla topped with lettuce, tomato, finely chopped cabbage, guacamole, salsa and yoghurt
• With a salad such as this Carrot and Seed Salad
• Instead of meatballs topped in tomato sauce on spaghetti with cheese on top
• As a protein chopped up in a Vegetarian Bolognaise
• In a stirfry with sauce such as this Sweet and Sour Tofu
• In a sandwich with coleslaw or your favourite salad fillings. 
  

 
On the Stereo:
The White Bread Album: The Burnt Sausages