Friday, August 16, 2013

Buffalo Tofu and Vegan MoFo


The man and I have been hooked on buffalo tofu for quite some time. We were introduced to buffalo tofu at Gasometer and haven't been able to go there without ordering a sharing plate since our first encounter. The spicy coating on the toothsome tofu paired with a cooling ranch dipping sauce is a delicious dish I've been dreaming about recreating at home for quite some time.

My initial attempt used a spice mix purchased from USA Foods as the main seasoning which I posted about last year. It was good enough for us at the time but I continued searching for recipes in an attempt to find out the secret to fantastic buffalo tofu. The majority of recipes used a hot sauce rather than a dry seasoning mix with Frank's red hot sauce clearly being the preferable option. I never remembered to look for this sauce on my occasional shopping trips to USA Foods and was astonished to discover it sitting amongst the condiments in my local Woolworths recently.


After our latest meal at Gasometer I cracked open the bottle of Frank's sauce and placed it under the man's nose. The look on his face was priceless. "That smells exactly like Gasometer's tofu, you MUST make some buffalo tofu." The recipe I followed was posted on The Vegan 8 Korean, it had a short ingredient list with an interesting twist - frozen and defrosted tofu. I really should use this method of preparing tofu more often as I adore the chewy texture that results from this as well as the extra absorbency of the tofu. If you haven't tried out this method of preparing tofu, I highly recommend sticking a block of tofu in the freezer right now! The tofu turns a yellow colour when it's frozen but after it has been defrosted it returns to it's usual white colour.


The only alteration I made was to adjust the quantity of hot sauce from half a cup to a third (and the margarine proportionately) in case it blew our heads off. Half a cup of hot sauce seemed like a lot to use given I was unfamiliar with the sauce. As it turns out I'm sure we would have handled the extra spice and I won't be wary to turn up the heat in the future!

I had already posted about a ranch dipping sauce adapted from Vegweb in my initial buffalo tofu post although this had slipped my mind so I trawled through my cookbooks to find a recipe to try. The majority of the recipes used vegan sour cream which I didn't have on hand so I settled on making a silken tofu based sauce from Appetite For Reduction. I'm a bit of a salt fiend but found that this sauce was too salty which was probably due to the differences in types of stock powders used. It also made a huge quantity which needed to be used within three days so rather than waste the dipping sauce, we eagerly went back for another round of buffalo tofu a couple of days later!


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I've been a bit quiet around here lately for various reasons and it's likely to remain this way for the rest of the month as Vegan MoFo is coming up in September! My goal is to post everyday throughout September and given the pathetic number of posts I've been churning out recently, I'm going to need the rest of this month to get myself organised. This will be the third time I have participated in Vegan MoFo and I'm looking forward to another fun filled month of reading posts from hundreds of bloggers around the globe. For those who are interested in participating and haven't signed up yet, the registration form is here - make sure you sign up before the cut off date of 28th August!
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Buffalo Tofu (Adapted from The Vegan 8 Korean)

350g firm tofu, frozen then defrosted
1/3 cup cornflour
Peanut or canola oil, for frying
1/3 - 1/2 cup Frank's red hot sauce (depending on your spice tolerance)
2 heaped tablespoons - 1/4 cup dairy-free margarine (depending on how much hot sauce was used)

After the frozen tofu has fully defrosted, place it in a tofu press and allow it to sit for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Alternatively wrap the block of tofu in paper towels, place it on a plate and sit some heavy weights on top for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Cut the tofu into whatever shape you feel like - sticks, triangles, cubes. Place the cornflour in a bowl and lightly coat each piece of tofu.

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a frying pan and fry the tofu (in batches, if necessary) over medium heat until slightly coloured on each side.

When the tofu has almost finished cooking, place the hot sauce and margarine in a small saucepan and heat until the margarine has melted. Reduce the heat on the frying pan containing the tofu to low and pour the contents of the saucepan over the tofu ensuring it is coated evenly. Allow it to simmer for a minute or two until the sauce reduces then serve the buffalo tofu with a ranch dipping sauce.

18 comments:

  1. Fun post! I'm glad you were able to find buffalo sauce locally. I agree, as far as the true buffalo experience, nothing beats Frank's. I'm even more glad that you're doing MoFo again this year! I can't wait to see what you have in store. I have found it harder to post of late too, knowing that next month will be a posting marathon! Lots of planning to do!

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    1. Thanks Cadry, the Frank's sauce definitely made the buffalo experience so fantastic. I'm really glad they stock it in our supermarkets now! Very glad to hear that you are up for Vegan MoFo again too and am sure you will have some great posts in store!

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  2. I'm also glad you're doing MoFo again :) I don't think I'll do it as I'm finding it hard to dedicate the time to blog stuff as it is but I always like reading what others locally are doing!

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    1. Thanks veganopoulous, I was in two minds about doing Vegan MoFo this year as I've been so busy lately but I know I would regret it if I don't make the effort. It can be difficult to muster up the energy for MoFo...

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  3. Sounds good though I don't know how I would go with the hot sauce (though if I see it in woolies I might just have to try it. I have got more and more wary of other recipes and tread lightly with chilli though I do love my salt too.

    Thanks for the heads up on vegan mofo - I had hoped to participate this year - have been doing a bit of thinking about it but assumed it was in October and I had more time - did not know the month had changed - not great as we are off on holiday but will have a think about it. Good luck with your preparation

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    1. Thanks Johanna, you might enjoy the hot sauce in a small quantity and E would probably love a new spicy condiment to add to his collection. It's not a Sylvia friendly recipe though.

      I'm sad to hear that the change in month doesn't suit you but if you are off on a holiday then that makes it challenging.

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  4. Thank you so much for this recipe Mel - I remember you raving about buffalo tofu and I have been seeing this sauce in Woolworths and eyeing it off (without yet buying it). Next visit, it will be coming home and I'll look forward to trying this out!

    I'm also really glad you're doing Vegan MoFo although am sad to heat the month has changed. Realistically I don't think I can do September which I'm disappointed about but I'll certainly look forward to your posts.

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    1. Thanks Kari, I hope you enjoy it as much as we have been. If you want to try a lighter version with less oil and no frying, follow the link to the original recipe as there were some tips for a baked version which could work well too.

      Oh I'm also sad to hear that September isn't the best month for you either, it was really nice to do Vegan MoFo with you and Johanna last year.

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  5. The tofu looks awesome! :-) I'm going to attempt vegan mofo too - something tells me I'll struggle with the daily posts too! ;-)

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    1. Thanks Sandy, I think the aim is still a minimum of 20 posts for the month. I saw mention of daily posts on the sign-up page but in the FAQs it said 20 posts. Glad to hear you are joining in too!

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  6. I've never had buffalo tofu - I'm clearly missing out! What's the sauce got in it? It it spicy or hot? Or both?!

    I'm hoping to do Mofo, but it's come around so quickly and the daily posting gives me the fear, but I'm really hoping to give it another go - I've really liked doing it the last couple of years!

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    1. Hi Joey, the buffalo sauce is mainly made up of cayenne peppers and vinegar so it's spicy and has a nice tang from the vinegar. It's great for spicy food lovers!

      MoFo did comes around quickly especially as it's moved to September! Hope you can muster up the energy to join in again, I really enjoyed your theme and posts last year.

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  7. Buffalo tofu is a brilliant idea. I haven't eaten tofu for ages now because I've been consciously trying to cut down on soy, but I love this recipe and I am going to try it for sure! I was thinking that this technique might even work with some veggies.

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    1. Thanks Vaishali, Buffalo veggies sounds like a great idea if you are trying to cut out the soy. My first thought was that it would go well with cauliflower, potatoes would be pretty great too!

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  8. that color looks gorgeous. i can take the extra heat!

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    1. Thanks Richa, I'll be taking the extra heat from now on too ;)

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  9. Ooh, I'll have to look in woolie's for Frank's original. I would love to make a delicious buffalo tofu!

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    1. Hope you can find it in your Woolies Theresa! We are going to a BBQ for fathers day this weekend and I'm going to bring along some buffalo tofu kebabs.

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