incredible tofu (1 Viewer)

[Shine]

ahem. dunchee told me that if i started a pre-emptive thread here and drummed up some support and enthusiasm, he'd come good with the secret recipe for his ridiculously incredible deep-fried tofu.

i don't know.. alls i can tell you is that the tofu was frozen first, marinaded in special marinade, battered with special batter, floured with special flour, deep fried and resulted in absolutely unbelievable yumminess!

did anyone else get some at the rag party last saturday?

or know how to make it?

or know any more secrets about tofu?

 

[Wheels]

ahem. dunchee told me that if i started a pre-emptive thread here and drummed up some support and enthusiasm, he'd come good with the secret recipe for his ridiculously incredible deep-fried tofu.

i don't know.. alls i can tell you is that the tofu was frozen first, marinaded in special marinade, battered with special batter, floured with special flour, deep fried and resulted in absolutely unbelievable yumminess!

did anyone else get some at the rag party last saturday?

or know how to make it?

or know any more secrets about tofu?

I need to know more. I made a tofu based dinner for people the other night and it was rubbish. Blandest thing I've ever inflicted on my taste buds.

 

[cookiemonster]

ahem. dunchee told me that if i started a pre-emptive thread here and drummed up some support and enthusiasm, he'd come good with the secret recipe for his ridiculously incredible deep-fried tofu.

did anyone else get some at the rag party last saturday?

yeah that stuff was amazing, gis the recipe dunchee!

 

[minka]

ahem. dunchee told me that if i started a pre-emptive thread here and drummed up some support and enthusiasm, he'd come good with the secret recipe for his ridiculously incredible deep-fried tofu.

i don't know.. alls i can tell you is that the tofu was frozen first, marinaded in special marinade, battered with special batter, floured with special flour, deep fried and resulted in absolutely unbelievable yumminess!

did anyone else get some at the rag party last saturday?

or know how to make it?

or know any more secrets about tofu?

i have a fab szechuan tofu recipe, can't remember the exact quantities of stuff, but roughly:

cut firm tofu into cubes and deep fry until golden - leave to drain on kitchen paper
in a wok, stir-fry some (where some == lots) garlic and ginger, then add chilli bean paste. this is an ESSENCE OF YUMMINESS product that you can buy in the asia market. all food tastes better with it. FACT.
add some stock, and stir in the fried tofu. let it simmer for a bit.
chuck in some sliced scallions.
stir in a bit of potato flour or cornflour mixed with a bit of water and stir everything around until the sauce is all glossy and clings to the tofu (ooh er).
devour.

i can check the exact recipe tonight if people want. it has converted hardened tofu-avoiders to the stuff.

 

[jillface]

dunchee's tofu was the best i've ever had. ever.

 

[carbide]

i have a fab szechuan tofu recipe, can't remember the exact quantities of stuff, but roughly:

...

that sounds yummy.

and, tenthing the sentiment: dunchee, that stuff was amaaazing.

 

[nofunchee]

thanks guys
unfortunately i haven't got the time to type it out right now but i'll do it as soon as i get a chance.

 

[Rachel666]

you should do a seomra spraoi cookbook...

 

[nofunchee]

you should do a seomra spraoi cookbook...

the idea has been thrown out there before. it's a good idea too, maybe it'll come together.

 

[nofunchee]

fake fried chicken:

tofu:
cheapest tofu in dublin is the asian shop on the middle of moore street or the korean shop down one of the laneway's between moore street and o'connell street - 2 quid per kg for the natural green stuff, which is non-gm. now this is chinese tofu as far as i know and it's real soft and wet so for a recipe such as this (when you need to handle the tofu a lot) i find it's best to freeze it first. this changes the consistancy and gives it more of a bite. it also means that you can gently squeeze the tofu to remove as much of the water as you want as it now has a spongy chrachteristic, which in turn allows for a much more successful marinade retention, which means less marinading time.

so freeze the tofu and then defrost. if you're in a rush you can pour boiling water over the blocks. when defrosted fully cut into decent chunky fingers. i chop each natural green block crossways to produce four fingers.

marinade:
the exact proportions are according to taste and amount of tofu being marinated. the tofu in question here was marinated with:

dark soy sauce (a good bit)
veg oil (don't over do it)
garlic (loads, crushed)
veggie stock (about half a cube per kg of tofu)
orange juice (a good splash)
veggie worchester sauce (a few splashes)
tandori masala powder (generous sprinkle)
chilli sauce (a splash for taste, not spicyness)

remember that a marinade tastes pretty nasty unless you smoke 100 fags a day. it should be real strong so don't go watering it down. to make it stretch it's a good idea to get a plastic container with a good tight fitting lid and stack the chunky tofu fingers like blocks, leaving as little free space as possible. mix the marinade well and pour over the tofu. seal the container and roll it around and upside down until all the tofu is covered. if the tofu is well stacked the marinade might come right to the top but the container should still be rolled around a few times periodically to get the tofu in the centre flavoured properly.

batter:
sieve flour into a mixing bowl and make a crater in the centre. pour a little bit of unsweetened soy milk (or real milk if you want) into the crater and start mixing it in with the flour around it. when you get a doughy lump in the middle of a load of flour add a bit more and repeat untill you have eventually worked all the flour into the mix. the consistency is important. be carefull not to add too much soy milk as a watery batter won't stick properly and cause you all sorts of trouble in terms of mess and with the breading (to follow). stick your finger in and make sure a decent glob stays on without draining away to quickly.

to spice it up a bit add a decent bit of ground black pepper and a couple of dollops of mustard.

breading:
this is the bit that gives you your fried chicken style taste and feel. one part cornmeal with one part flour, lash in a good bit of nutritional yeast and mix well.

method:
after leaving the tofu to marinade overnight (or longer if possible) in the fridge and rolling it a few times (as described above), dip in the batter and then roll in the breading and place into a pot of very hot oil. only do 6 to 8 fingers at a time to avoid bringing the temperature of the oil down too much. when the pieces are the same temperature as the oil they float on the top. take them out when they are nicely browned and crispy on the outside, and place on some kitchen roll to soak up the excess oil. let the oil heat up again between batches. when they have cooled enough not to burn your mouth off eat them with your favourate dipping sauces or on their own.

top tip:
the breading tends to get lumpy and useless pretty quickly with all the stray batter falling into it. what i did the last time which was a real progression on this front was put a little bit of the breading on a plate and when it gets lumpy simply sieve it back into the rest, throw the lumps in the bin, and refill your plate again.

enjoy.

 

[Dktr. Faustus]

this with some hummus will be my next weeks masterplan then, cheers!

 

[Dktr. Faustus]

Need some more skillz

The batter-dough seems to only like to wrap around my fingers, not the tofu which again likes to crumble into pieces...maybe it would need to be more watery than this...just tried to wrap the dough around the tofu pieces

Then when i got the things done, they were waay too salty. Need to smoke the 100 fags a day to be able to eat these. Still a batch waiting so I'm trying to absorb the marinade away into kitchen roll. Too much soy sauce in my marinade then...next time should dilute it with something else, maybe more orange juice then?

Next time I'll try with a smaller batch. This one was in the marinade almost 24 hours and its just the matter of learning by trial and error now.

 

[ratmonkey]

Tofu? Isn't that meat for crazy people?

 

[Space]

Tofu? Isn't that meat for crazy people?

No your thinking of quorn.
Tofu is an asian delicacy/staple made from soya bean curd.

 

[the strange guy]

I've tasted Dunchee's tofu delight and it made my toes curl and my nipples hard. He has a gift for cooking tofu that would make vegans weep and carnivores punch their own cuspids out in frustration.

 

[Eddie Gorilla]

im so fuckin' excited about cookin' this.

 

[HMD]

fake fried chicken:

i made this today. it rocks thanks for the recipe.|..|

 

[Eddie Gorilla]

thinkin' of makin' it for christmas dinner.

 

[Eddie Gorilla]

(actually makin' it tonight/tomorrow now! yeow!)

 

[Jerry Twig]

fair dues to the Dunchee fellow for that exhaustive description.