Finger-lickin' Tofu Cutlets

[ADistillio]

These were pretty good.  I found that the measurments for the coating was too much for just one package of tofu, so I'd cut it in half next time to avoid the waste.  I used 2tsp salt, 1tsp pepper, 1/2tsp thyme, and 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning since I didn't have much else on hand, and I cut the tofu the short way to make more servings.  Mine didn't look as good as the original picture, but they're tasty, though next time I think I'll add a little more spices on top of the coating when they're frying.  I'm dipping them in szechwan sauce atm because I can't find any plum sauce in my fridge. Will def make again, but like I said, I'll do it with more spices, and maybe a lil hot sauce on top while frying, or sprinkle a little soy sauce on the tofu before coating in the flour, milk, spiced flour.

[Aea5614]

I absolutely loved this. However there was a lot of dredging mix left over but I made onion rings and sweet potato fries out of it which my whole non vegetarian family loved. I added a little cumin, red pepper, black pepper, and curry seasoning to mine. I think the nutritional yeast was what made it so tasty though. I've never had much luck with frying things to I was really impressed by how well this worked out.

[inbelle]

Hey all. I'm glad you guys had success with the recipe. I just wanted to post that I usually save the leftover mix in a ziplock bag and just use it up over time. Have fun with it!

[percussion0806]

This didn't quite do it for me. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I cut the tofu into smaller pieces and then breaded, or if I served it with something mroe flavorful. (I didn't have any of the yummy things that the author described for her sandwich--i tried it on italian bread with some dressing). Just plain, however, seemed a little bland.

I also wonder whether such a recipe might work baked somehow? There's a beer tofu recipe on here that I bake rather than fry, and that's always a hit.

[Narcissus]

I can't get this to work.  No matter what I try, every time I attempt this recipe, the breading stuff fails. It either falls right off, or just forms huge clumps of grossness, or never sticks in the first place.

Help me, please! I want to have delicious fried tofu...

[inbelle]

Narcissus! I don't know what's up with the tofu! I wish I had an easy answer. You could try using less cornmeal and more flour in the spiced up mixture. I've also skipped the soymilk and flour steps and dredged the tofu right in the spiced up mixture. This might make it stick to the tofu better. Try different brands of tofu also. I find that when I have really firm tofu with no "pores" the breading doesn't quite stick as well. Good luck and let us know what happens...

[hi-d]

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.

[SnowQueen690]

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.

[caroleena2]

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!

[etheno]

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.

[inbelle]

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.

[shelloid]

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.