Buffalo Tofu

Buffalo tofu is made by frying tofu in oil and then cooking and coating in a spicy buffalo sauce made by butter, garlic, ketchup, hot sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce. Buffalo tofu is spicy, fried to crisp, coated with sweet yet spicy sauce! can be used as an appetizer or as the main dish, buffalo tofu would surely fill your heart and your tummy. It’s the sauce that counts! This tofu recipe will ease your spice cravings!

BUFFALO TOFU RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces tofu

For the breading:

• ½ cup cornstarch
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

For the buffalo sauce:

• 3 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce (or soy sauce)

Directions:

1. Prepare the tofu and slice them into serving pieces. Set aside.
2. Grab a flat plate and add the flour and cornstarch. Season this with salt ground black pepper, paprika powder, garlic powder and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Coat each piece of tofu with the seasoned flour mixture.  Do this with the rest of the tofu.
4. Heat a lot of oil in a pan. Fry the coated tofu in batches until golden brown and crispy. Flip to cook the other side. Transfer them to a strainer or paper towel to drain excess oil. Set aside.
5. For the buffalo sauce, melt some butter in a pan. Add the garlic and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the ketchup and hot sauce as desired. Stir a bit. Add some brown sugar to balance the taste. Then, add the oyster sauce (or soy sauce) and mix well. Cook the sauce until it thickens.
6. Add the fried tofu in the pan and toss gently until well coated with the buffalo sauce. Turn the heat off.
7. Transfer the buffalo tofu to a serving plate. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top (optional). Enjoy this as an appetizer or have it on top of a big bowl of hot steaming rice. Yum!

WHAT IS BUFFALO SAUCE?

The history of the buffalo sauce was quite interesting. Did you know that the buffalo sauce was not intentionally invented? According to records, the buffalo sauce was invented in the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, (I bet you though the buffalo name was because of its kicking flavor, don’t you!!).

One of the best dishes on this bar is their chicken wings. During the night, the owners of the bar grab their leftover chicken wings and toss them in a peppery hot sauce to serve as midnight snack for his son. The discovery of this great combination became the birth of the buffalo sauce, wherein the buffalo chicken wings was added in their menu the next day.

This is a lesson for us to try different food combinations because we’ll never know if it’s a good one if we don’t try it!

BUFFALO TOFU

I’ve been eating way too oily foods lately. It made me guilty of eating too much meat, and also made me worry about my heart health. That’s a really sad thought knowing that I’m a meat lover!

To ease the guilt, searching for meat alternatives is one great step. Since tofu is one of the best alternatives, I bought quite a few tofu which I will enjoy for the rest of the week. What I love about tofu is that the flavor is nicely mild, which makes it great for different sauces. It is so much healthier since it is plant-based. Less fats, less cholesterol!

I saw a restaurant advertisement for buffalo chicken wings while scrolling through social media and it instantly made me drool. My first thought was to have a drop of my fave hot sauce lying in my pantry. While it wasn’t enough to fill up my cravings, I remembered the tofu I bought. The idea of buffalo tofu excites me!

Since then, I’ve been trying different sauces with fried coated tofu. Aside from buffalo sauce, I also recommend you to try honey mustard, mango jalapeno and honey citrus sauce!

HOW TO ENJOY BUFFALO TOFU

Buffalo tofu is a very interesting dish as it can be enjoyed both an appetizer and viand. If you would want to enjoy it as a viand, I recommend to cut them in larger pieces. If enjoyed as appetizer, better to slice them into small cubes.

Aside from the usual way, let me share with you another unique hack on how to enjoy the buffalo tofu! If you are fond of the famous samgyupsal, you can replace the oily pork with this veggie alternative. Grab a piece of lettuce, add some buffalo tofu, pickled radish, some sesame oil and eat them all in one bite! The pork is too oily and high in saturated fat, which is why I sometimes replace the meat with buffalo tofu.

HOW TO MAKE BUFFALO TOFU

Buffalo tofu is quite one of the easiest recipes you can make with tofu. If you are fond of crafting different sauces for the chicken wings, then making one for tofu will definitely excite you.

In making this buffalo tofu recipe, think of the tofu as a replacement for chicken wings. Instead of frying them directly, giving them a spiced coating will make a big difference. Aside from having a crunchier crust, the coating will also enhance the natural soy bean taste of the tofu.

For this recipe, I used the basic spices like salt, pepper, paprika powder and garlic powder as the seasonings. To make the crunchy coating, a mixture of cornstarch, flour and baking powder would do the hack. Simple dredge the tofu in this spiced flour mixture until golden brown and crispy.

When the tofu is ready, now it is time to prepare the buffalo sauce. This sauce is literally one of the easiest because you only need to grab your favorite hot sauce and then customize the flavor a little. What we aim for the buffalo sauce is a contrasting sweet and spicy taste, with a hint of butter and garlic. To make it very Pinoy, let’s add a little (banana) ketchup for a savoury flavor and to highlight the its bright red color.

When both the tofu and the sauce is prepared, time to mix it all up! You can add some chopped green chilies and sesame seeds on top to make it more appetizing. Have this with rice for a fulfilling meal. Yum!

COOKING TIPS:

• If you want a thicker coating, you can add some cold water in the breading, turning it into a batter. Dip the tofu in the batter before frying.

Buffalo Tofu Recipe in Tagalog

Mga Sangkap:

• 4 piraso tokwa

Para sa breading:

• ½ tasa cornstarch
• ¼ tasa harina
• 1 kutsaritang asin
• 1 kutsaritang durog na paminta
• 1 kutsaritang paprika powder
• ½ kutsaritang baking powder
• 1 kutsaritang garlic powder

Para sa buffalo sauce:

• 3 kutsara butter (unsalted)
• 3 butil ng bawang (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• ¼ tasa ng ketchup
• ¼ tasa ng hot sauce
• 1 kutsara asukal na pula (optional)
• 1 kutsarang oyster sauce (o toyo)

Paano Lutuin:

1. Ihanda ang tokwa at hiwain sa serving pieces. Isantabi.
2. Kumuha ng flat na plato at ilagay ang cornstarch. Timplahan ito ng asin, paminta, paprika powder, garlic powder at baking powder. Haluing mabuti.
3. Pagulungin sa tinimplahang harina ang bawat tokwa.
4. Magpainit ng maraming mantika. Iprito ang mga tokwa hanggang maging golden brown at crispy. Baliktarin ang mga ito para maluto ang kabilang side. Ilipat ang mga ito sa strainer o paper towel para tumulo ang sobrang mantika. Isantabi.
5. Para sa buffalo sauce, tunawin ang butter sa kawali. Ilagay ang bawang at igisa ng konti. Sunod na ilagay ang ketchup at hot sauce depende kung gaano kaanghang mo gusto. Haluin ng konti. Timplahan ito ng asukal para bumalanse ang lasa. Huling ilagay ang oyster sauce (o toyo) at lutuin hanggang lumapot.
6. Ibalik sa kawali ang mga pritong tokwa at haluin ng dahan dahan hanggang malagyan lahat ng buffalo sauce. Patayin ang apoy.
7. Ilipat ang buffalo tofu sa serving plate at budburan ng sesame seeds (optional). Enjoyin ito bilang appetizer o samahan ng malaking bowl ng mainit na kanin. Yum!