French Tofu? Tofu Doré?

In some gastronomic exploration years ago, I experimented with the interesting impact freezing had on tofu - particularly when you drop a frozen block of tofu into boiling water.  The result is a porous, more firm item - still mostly devoid of flavour as tofu itself is, but with a new interesting texture.

Some random brand of tofu swiped from the net

The result is not unlike a sponge and as such, seemed a path towards carrying other flavours.  I made some interesting tofu-burger things, and did a chicken-burger with the sponge item carrying other flavours from powdered broth mix.  Interesting but not a staple.

When a Twitter friend (@tao23) this week mentioned dipping tofu into egg-mixture for making French Toast, this came to mind as a good evolution of that idea.  There was no reason really for me to seek out an alternative to conventional French toast, or to find a new tofu delivery system really.

Tofu is probably most often used in western culture as a substitute for something one is excluding from their diet (e.g. meat for vegetarians) but as I'm not avoiding anything in particular, this is more of a food experimentation opportunity.  It does present an appealing option towards making a gluten-free version of French toast for those who find digesting gluten a problem.

Tofu in east Asian cooking is just another ingredient. It's protein-rich and fat-free which alone makes it a good thing to try to squeeze into your diet.  As an avid bread-maker, I don't propose to eliminate bread any time soon. But I'm a big fan of variety and this seems a good means to expand on the uses for that ubiquitous block of soy-bean curds.

The technique is pretty simple - freeze a block of tofu solid, then when a pot of water has reached a good rolling boil, toss in the block of tofu.  The result, when the boil has returned, is a spongy looking block which is easily cut into a slab resembling a slice of bread.

I've used silken tofu here, and I noticed that the holes are a little larger, and the final product a little softer than if you use firm tofu.  This seems a good way to emulate different softnesses of bread, and I was happy with this outcome.

After the water returned to a boil I transfered the spongy block to a board with a spatula and pressed the water out of it.  It can hold quite a bit of liquid -  this is a great feature, as it enables the scheme of soaking stuff - like our French toast egg mixture.

In the close-up picture here you can see the neat pattern of holes made by the ice crystals. The boiling water serves to set the tofu and retain those pockets and firm up the texture.


The next step is as normal for making French Toast - lightly whip up an egg with about an equal amount or so of milk.  Add a tablespoon of sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract.   Sop up this mixture with the tofu and fry in a little butter in a hot pan.

As it's frying a good hot pan ensures that the egg mixture doesn't leak out too quickly. Tidy up the edges with your spatula to retain the tasty goodness.

For a bit of a flavour enhancement, I also caramelized some banana slices in butter - a younger banana is best so it doesn't get too soft. Just quickly brown on both sides and remove.

Here's the final result on the plate, with a bit of butter and that oh so yummy Canadian maple syrup.







Make a big stack for all your gluten-free friends and let me know how you like it.   Or make a couple for your anti-tofu friends and don't tell them what it is until they've finished.

It's French Tofu - or perhaps Tofu Doré if you want to get all fancy about it.

Enjoy! And tweet me at @ottaross if you have any thoughts on the subject.