recipe that has and will continue to stand the test of time: godly tofu
ok that’s not the actual name. the actual name is like breaded tofu steaks and ginger sauce but godly tofu has a better ring to it and it is, in fact, godly.
this recipe came out of an early 2000s cooking light cookbook that i’m pretty sure my dad found in a dumpster (?) at work and i’ve been eating it for pretty much my entire life. it’s relatively low effort tho it does take three separate pans so if you’re not in a three pan mood, perhaps don’t attempt.
pasta (any sort but one that holds sauce well is preferred)
1/4 plus cup of flour (i’ve tried regular and GF, both work)
bread crumbs (bit more than flour amount)
some kind of oil to cook the tofu in (olive, vegetable, whatever u got)
1 tbsp corn starch/arrow root powder
as much fresh grated ginger as your heart desires
optional fresh peppers, peas and/or corn
literally just make pasta. how ever much you want. it makes roughly 3-4 servings of tofu depending on how hungry u are and how you cut it. if you’re adding peas and or corn throw it in during the last like 2 minutes of pasta cooking. i trust you know how to make pasta.
remove tofu from package and squish out at least some water with paper towels. you don’t have to go too crazy. cut horizontally into either four or six brick shaped slab pieces (depending on how thick you want your tofu and how much you care about breading to tofu ratio. i usually do six). in a flat bowl that will fit the tofu crack your egg. add a bit of water if the egg seems small. beat. in another equally shaped bowl add a bit more than a quarter cup of your flour of choice. add to that about an equal amount of bread crumbs. the seasoned ones work better, the regular ones are also fine. then you’re going to add the same amount of dill, smoked paprika, salt and pepper (half ish teaspoon). add twice the amount of thyme (full ish teaspoon). mix together.
at this point you’ll want to get out a frying pan shaped pan that will fit all of your tofu. add a generous amount of oil to your pan. turn on medium ish heat. return your attention to the tofu.
dip tofu first in the dry mixture, then the egg, then back in the dry. make sure all sides are covered in breading. then put in pan. repeat for all pieces. make sure there is oil touching all of the tofu. it’s doesn’t have to be swimming in oil, but it should be touching it so the breading doesn’t burn. cook until nice and browned on the first side and then flip over to the other side, you may have to add more oil. if the edges don’t look brown and yummy make sure they get some pan time too, but usually just doing both sides works. remove from heat when done. can blot off any excess oil with paper towels if you want to do that.
you can make this while the tofu is cooking if you feel like multi tasking, or after if not. in one small saucepan put in 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1/3 cup sugar. cook on high ish heat until sugar is dissolved. mix together in a separate receptacle 1/4 cup water and 1 tbsp corn starch/arrow root powder until it is combined. add this to your sauce pan. reduce the heat. it will start to bubble and thicken after awhile. this is correct. remove from heat. to this, add a bit of grated fresh ginger. as much as you want. the more ginger, the more gingery it will be. this is especially good if you need to clear out your nose.
cut up the tofu into squares, serve over top of the pasta. drench in ginger sauce. top with peppers if feeling freaky. enjoy and ascend as you consume the godly tofu.
