Hello friends and not yet friends.
Welcome back to Mary's Test Kitchen where we're taking all the flavour, the spices,
the sweetness and textures from Nashville Hot Chicken and using them for our own nefarious
plant-based purposes!
I mean, this truly heavenly Nashville Hot Tofu.
Crispy on the outside but tender and full of delicious juiciness on the inside, this
sweet and spicy dish is tofu for everyone - even people who don't really care for tofu.
Like my vegan fried chicken recipe and my more recent vegan buffalo chicken recipe,
we're using the double freeze method to transform the texture of medium firm tofu.
You take the medium firm tofu, don't open it, and stick it in the freezer.
When it's solid, layers will have formed inside by the water turning to ice.
Take it out of the freezer and let it thaw completely but make sure it stays cold. Please
check the blog post on ways to do this safely.
Because, we need to freeze and thaw a second time. For some reason, this makes the tofu
more sturdy so you can press it really well without it breaking.
For some reason, freezing only once makes the tofu way more delicate.
Then finally open up the pack of tofu and drain it.
The medium tofu I buy gets this texture every time I do this. But not all brands are the
same. Check the blog post for details.
Press it with something like this tofu making mold, a dedicated tofu press or squeeze it
evenly between two cutting boards.
Then rip the block into bite sized chunks.
Make them as dry as possible by blotting with a clean, dry, lint-free kitchen towel.
Get all that tofu-tasting water out.
When I do this double freezing thing, I usually do a few packs at a time and you can freeze
them so you can whip them out any time and make my best vegan fried chicken, or Buffalo
"Chicken" or "honey butter chicken" or General Tso's. Or this recipe.
You get the idea.
But on this day, I didn't have pre-made frozen double frozen tofu so here I am ripping freshly
defrosted drained and well dried double frozen tofu into bite-size chunks right on to this
silicone baking mat.
Quick note: if you can't get tofu that goes flaky, for this recipe, you actually can use
any medium firm tofu.
If yours is the kind that goes spongy-looking after freezing instead of flaky, you would
just do the same thing with it except you only need to freeze the one time, not twice.
So, in a way, lucky you.
We're going to get even more moisture out by baking these nuggets directly in the oven
for about 20 minutes. Just turn the oven on now, no preheating neccessary.
During this time, you could make any sides you want, like maybe this macaroni salad.
Now the tofu has been baking for 20 minutes and it's changed colour. It'll get yellow-ish
and the edges should be a little golden brown.
I'm just going to flip them before putting them back in the oven for another 10 minutes
to dehydrate even more. Really trying to get that moisture out.
Next, I'll make the marinade which will put the moisture back into the tofu. Along with
a whole lotta flavour.
There are number of things going in so make sure you have your list handy.
You'll combine a third cup, about 80 ml's, of liquid from a jar of dill pickes,
2 tablespoons of brown sugar,
a tablespoon of cayenne, though you can replace some of that with sweet paprika if you can't
take the heat,
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon paprika,
1 teaspoon garlic powder,
1/4 teaspoon white pepper,
and
1/4 teaspoon salt.
I didn't add it today but for a richer flavour, also add one or two tablespoons of melted
vegan butter or butter-flavoured coconut oil.
When the tofu is ready, toss it in.
Press the tofu pieces gently so they don't just get coated but they suck up the marinade.
You can use this techinque with all sorts of flavour combinations. I love doing a Chinese
five spice with black vinegar or lemon dijon maple or just soaking it in a ranch style
marinade or buffalo sauce. The combinations are really endless.
Now the tofu has soaked up every drop and it's time to bake again.
First spread out the pieces and spray or drizzle on some oil.
The oil is essential to make the tofu a little crispy on the outside but also to lock moisture
in. Otherwise, it's really easy to overbake and then they will be more dry and chewy on
the inside instead of juicy and delicious.
Ten minutes later, we're ready to plate up some thick sourdough and salad or whatever
side you've rustled up.
And our Nashville Hot Tofu. Those nuggs go on the bread along with tangy dill pickles.
That's a nice hefty portion of vegan protein made super delicious with that dill pickle
juice, brown sugar and spicy cayenne with garlic and onion.
The tofu is crispy on the outside but tender and full of juicy flavour on the inside.
If you, like me, always have twice frozen tofu on rotation, this will take you about
40 minutes to make. If you're new to the double frozen tofu idea..well, let this be motivation
to finally try it! Super easy, super good.
Thanks so much for watching to the end, my friend. I really hope you liked this video
and found it useful. If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and subscribe if you
haven't already for more easy delicious vegan recipes.
And P.S. For those who are determined to get that flaky
tofu texture but are having a hard time getting your locally available tofu brands to work
for you, yes, I am working on a way that you can all get flaky tofu. Just hang in there.
Stay subbed - I'm getting closer to a solution.
On a more serious note, hang in there everyone. Let's stay safe, stay clean, take care of
each other and...
don't be racist.
Alright?
Bye for now!