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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Buffalo tofu with ranch dipping sauce



A couple of weeks ago, the man and I went back to Gasometer as we heard that the menu had changed again! I was delighted to find buffalo tofu strips back on the menu as I never had the chance to try them previously. We were both smitten with the spicy dense sticks of tofu and their accompanying dipping sauce so I wanted to try and replicate them at home. I had a secret ingredient up my sleeve to make life easier, a buffalo wing spice mix I had purchased from USA Foods ages ago which contained four simple ingredients - chile, red jalapeno, salt and garlic.

The buffalo wing mix came with a recipe for making wings which didn't really suit my purpose although it wasn't entirely useless either. I scaled down the marinade quantities to suit my block of tofu and when I couldn't make up my mind about frying or baking the tofu, I split the batch in half and put both methods to the test. There didn't turn out to be a lot of difference between these methods, I would say the baked tofu was slightly chewier and firmer than the fried version. I sought out a vegan ranch dipping sauce recipe to have with the tofu on VegWeb which was a breeze to mix together and the perfect cooling condiment to tone down the spices a little.

Recently we have made concerted efforts to seek out local farmers markets on weekends when time permits (stay tuned for another post on this soon). Last weekend I was pleased to bring home a bunch of organic baby purple carrots, baby leeks and kale amongst other things. The buffalo tofu was teamed up with some baked potato wedges with smoked paprika and salt, sauteed baby carrots with garlic and parsley and sauteed kale with baby leeks and a dash of lemon. Everyone agreed that the side dishes were just as delicious as the tofu. The buffalo tofu was really tasty and spicy yet not quite on the same level as Gasometer's fantastic version. As there is a large portion of the packet mix remaining this will definitely be on the menu again.


Buffalo Tofu (Adapted from Los Chileros buffalo wing mix)

350g firm tofu
1 tablespoon Los Chileros buffalo wing mix
1 ½ tablespoons vegan worchestershire sauce
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Press tofu for 30 minutes. Cut the block of tofu into thirds lengthwise then cut each piece into six equal sized sticks. Whisk together the buffalo tofu mix, worchestershire sauce and olive oil in a bowl. Add the tofu to the bowl and coat thoroughly with the marinade. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Bake the strips in the oven at 200C for 30 minutes, flipping after 15 minutes. Alternatively, fry in a pan with a little oil over medium heat until browned on both sides. Serve with ranch dressing.


Ranch dipping sauce (Adapted from VegWeb)

½ cup vegan mayonnaise (I used Praise 97% fat free)
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate until required.

10 comments:

  1. I love the idea of baked buffalo tofu! I don't have access to the wing mix, but I do have some hot sauce in the refrigerator which would lend itself to that perfectly. Thanks for the great idea!

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    1. Baked tofu has such a wonderful texture but I probably should have left mine in the oven for a little longer this time to make it slightly chewier. Buffalo flavouring is a new one for me but I'm sure you're more familiar with it and will have great ideas about how to replicate it.

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  2. Yum, these sound lovely. One thing I was vaguely hoping to eat while in the US but didn't manage to find was vegan buffalo something or other. It is really a great flavour. Maybe I'll have to trek down to Melbourne again for another trip to Gasometer!

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    1. You should definitely have another trip to Melbourne if you can! I'm not sure how long the buffalo tofu will stay on Gasometers menu this time as they tend to change it often.

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  3. I was smitten with the strips in your first photo so am thilled you recreated them :) I have no idea what buffalo flavours are but from the ingredients in your recipe and Los Chilleros I am starting to get an idea and I think I'd like them rather a lot.

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    1. They are basically chilli based which is why it's nice to serve them with a refreshing dipping sauce. I've been hooked on the Los Chileros brand ever since I tried their chipotle chilli powder. ;)

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  4. looks like a fantastic meal - I have made something along this line but more complicated - tofu with a spice rub and cooked in a bbq sauce - but looking at yours I am not sure if it is the same thing as buffalo wings which I am not familiar with - I particularly love the gorgeous purple carrots in the look

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    1. Tofu with a spice rub and bbq sauce sounds like a lovely combination but a little different to these flavours I think. I've enjoyed regular purple carrots before but this was the first time that I've seen baby ones and they really were lovely.

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  5. I need to make this soon. I have yet to make vegan ranch sauce, but this meal looks so yum!

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    1. I've never tried any type of ranch sauce before so I had no basis for comparison but this sauce did pair really well with the spicy tofu!

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