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Chip Shop Battered Tofu Recipe


There's nothing better in the summer than walking along a beach or sitting in a harbour watching the boats and eating a bag of hot fluffy chips with lashings of salt and vinegar.

Going to a chip shop as a vegetarian can be a bit like playing Russian roulette. First you have to do a bit of detective work and find out what oil they use (many use beef dripping) and then there's that moment when you optimistically or if you've done this before pessimistically look at the menu hoping there might be something exciting to order. That bag of chips is great when you are walking along the beach, but it's not a very filling or satisfying evening meal.



If you're lucky you might find battered garlic mushrooms or a veggie burger on the menu. Slim pickings might mean you only have the option of some onion rings to go with your chips, but if you strike gold you may find battered tofu on the menu. This has only happened to me once. Sigh!

So I decided to make my own chip shop battered tofu.

I made a beer batter and flavoured the batter with chana masala spice mix which I buy from Steenbergs, but you could add paprika (which I often add to this batter), cumin or just your favourite curry mix. I know this is a chip shop dish but the spice really makes the batter really tasty.


What kind of Tofu should I use?


If you aren't familiar with tofu, there are a few different types you can buy. Each of them are treated in a different way, but the one thing to remember is you need to add lots of flavour. Tofu soaks up flavour like a sponge, which is just as well as it is rather bland before you add other ingredients.

1. Firm Tofu


This tofu comes in a block and needs to be pressed to remove liquid from it. You can then marinate and dry fry it before adding it to a dish or simply slice and batter it like I did.


2. Marinated Tofu Pieces


This is very convenient as it has already been pressed and marinated and is ready to add to stir fries and other dishes.

3. Silken Tofu 

This is a creamy tofu that is perfect to make a creamy dessert like my sin-free chocolate mousse. You could also add it in a creamy sauce for pasta.

For my chip shop battered tofu I used a block of firm organic tofu from Cauldron. It's available in most supermarkets, so handy to pop in your basket when you're shopping and it doesn't break the bank either.

I should actually have shares in Cauldron Foods, I buy so many packs of their tofu, falafel and vegan sausages. Having a brand like this in the supermarket, just makes making midweek meals so easy, not to mention packed lunches. I love that being a vegan or vegetarian is getting so much easier, it's changed a lot (for the better) over the last 20 years.



How do you press tofu?



1. The simple answer is to buy a tofu press like the one above. You just pop the tofu into the middle layer of the box which has holes for the liquid to run through. Add the lid and use the elastic on each side to pull it tight. Half an hour later you have perfectly pressed tofu ready to use.

2. If you don't have a press you can wrap the tofu in kitchen paper, the a clean tea towel and pop a heavy cookbook on top, then top with a couple of cans to weigh it down. Cooper shows you how in step-by-step photos when he was making spiced tofu fingers. Have a look. So cute!



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Chip Shop Battered Tofu Recipe


I've served this battered tofu in long slices with lemon, but you cut cut it into bites and vary your dips, why not make a chip shop curry sauce, red pepper sweet chilli sauce or kebab shop chilli sauce?



Disclosure: I created this recipe for Cauldron as part of their Masters of Tofu campaign. Cauldron is my regular brand of tofu. I was not expected to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.




This post first appeared on Tinned Tomatoes, please read the originial post: here

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Chip Shop Battered Tofu Recipe

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