A couple of weeks ago, I posted a Trinidadian hops bread recipe in which I promised to share the thing that I sandwiched between the two halves of one of the rolls. So here it is… *drum roll please*… the crispy fried tofu sandwich!
I first discovered this Superiority Burger recipe on the New York Times website. As well as the photograph that made me want to lick the screen, the feedback from people who had attempted the recipe was gushingly positive. Lots of them said that the non-vegetarians and tofu-haters in their families really loved the taste and meaty texture.
There’s one main brand of firm tofu widely available in the UK – Cauldron – it comes in a 396g pack, a different size to the ones in the US. One block of this tofu makes two burgers; therefore, I’ve tweaked the quantities needed to suit.
There are a fair few ingredients in the recipe, but some of them can be easily substituted with other things, if necessary. My ‘pickle juice’ was a mixture of the liquid from jars of jalapeños, silverskin onions and gherkins. The Dijon mustard was swapped for wholegrain mustard. Also, I didn’t have any gochugaru, so I just used the same amount of crushed chillis. Finally, there wasn’t any onion or garlic powder in the house, so I sprinkled in some celery salt… it seemed to work fine!
The secret to getting the texture of the fried tofu just right is to press, drain and freeze the block… twice… before coating and cooking it. Slice the block in half, lengthways, before the first pressing to release as much as the liquid as possible.
The other thing is to allow the sliced tofu to marinade in the spiced pickle juice at least overnight so it can soak up all that flavour. If you find – like I did – that the tofu floats, weigh it down with one of those half-sized tins of baked beans or sweetcorn… works a treat!
I was so blown away by the tastiness, the juiciness and the easiness that I’ve saved the marinade and have already bought another block of tofu to make it all over again!
Click here or on the image below to save the crispy fried tofu sandwich recipe to Pinterest
Crispy fried tofu sandwich
Ingredients
For marinading
- 1 block extra firm tofu drained & sliced lengthways
- 225 ml/8fl oz pickle juice
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp gochugaru or red-pepper flakes
- 2 tbsps grapeseed oil or other neutral oil
For frying
- 2 tbsps Dijon mustard
- 100 g/3½oz plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground cayenne
- 1 tsp fine salt plus more as needed
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Grapeseed oil or other neutral oil for frying
To assemble
- 2 potato buns or other soft rolls
- Vegan mayonnaise and hot sauce as needed (I used sriracha chilli mayo sauce which is vegan)
- Thinly shredded green cabbage and dill pickles for serving
Instructions
For marinading
- Line a baking sheet with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Arrange the sliced tofu in a single layer on the baking sheet
- Cover the sliced tofu with more towels and gently press each piece to extract some of the moisture
- In a large bowl, combine the pickle juice, hot sauce, mustard and gochugaru
- Heat the grapeseed oil in a large, non-stick or cast-iron skillet over high heat until shimmering
- Sear the tofu to form a golden-brown crust, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Immediately drop the hot tofu into the pickle juice mixture
- Refrigerate and let the tofu marinate for at least a few hours, or even overnight
For frying
- In a medium shallow bowl, stir the mustard with 2tbsp water until it’s the consistency of heavy cream and set aside
- In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and pepper
- In a Dutch oven or sturdy pot, heat 2 inches of grapeseed oil over medium heat and set a wire rack on top of a baking sheet
- Remove the tofu from the marinade and pat dry
- Dip the tofu in the mustard mixture, turning until coated all over, then the flour mixture; dip it again in the mustard then flour until twice coated
- When the oil temperature reaches 175ºC/350ºF carefully place the battered tofu into the hot oil and fry, flipping as needed, until golden brown - about 5 minutes
- Transfer the fried tofu to the wire rack and sprinkle with a little salt
To assemble
- Toast the buns and spread generously with vegan mayo and dot with hot sauce, if desired
- Top with fried tofu, cabbage and dill pickles and eat immediately
To get the best texture, slice the tofu, press, pat dry, freeze, thaw, repress, pat dry again, refreeze and thaw.
Pat dry again before searing
