Buffalo Tofu is for Everyone
- Hayley Schueneman
- Jul 8, 2020
- 7 min read
I want to start this recipe off with something very important: a grievance.
When a recipe says that it is “So easy!” or “So simple!” or “Only uses 5 ingredients and one pot!” I briefly blackout in rage. Sure, that recipe might be “So easy!” if you’re used to cooking for yourself every day or “So simple!” if you already know how to press a block of tofu or “Only uses 5 ingredients and one pot!” but one of the 5 ingredients is a from-scratch sauce that I was supposed to prepare yesterday?!!?!?!? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE???
I understand that food bloggers want to get people excited to make their dish, and communicate that cooking doesn’t need to be overwhelming or prohibitively time-consuming or complicated. But the result ends up being similar to what happens when a friend over-hypes a book to get you to read it: disappointing, and sometimes even anger-inducing. (To the multiple people who convinced me that Donna Tartt’s The Secret History was going to be the most mind-blowing, amazing book I have ever read, I...do not forgive you.)
Here is what I will say about this recipe: it is wonderful and delicious and versatile. You could just as easily toss this tofu over a salad as you could roll it up in a tortilla. What is really wonderful about this hybrid method of cooking tofu is that the outside gets a wonderful crunchy texture when you sear it and the inside gets nice and chewy when you bake it. It is perfection.
This recipe requires you to mix a dry rub, press a block of tofu for at least 20 minutes and cut it into cubes, sear that tofu in oil for about 10 minutes, bake it for 15 minutes, and toss it back in a pan and coat it with sauce. Maybe for you this sounds like a no-fuss quick and easy thing to throw together “on a weeknight!!” (as if days of the week have meaning anymore). Maybe for you this is more challenging, with techniques and ingredients you haven’t used before, and you want to set aside time when you can be totally undisturbed to really focus in and make sure you are doing it right. Maybe you are somewhere in between (I am!). The point is, I believe that anyone who wants to make this recipe can make it, and make it really well. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters.
This is a recipe for Buffalo Tofu, and you will enjoy it immensely.
INGREDIENTS*
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
½ tablespoon onion powder
¼ tablespoon cayenne pepper
Generous pinch salt
1 package extra firm tofu
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
⅓-½ cup Frank’s red hot wing sauce**
Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, avocado, celery, carrots, tortillas (all optional, it depends on if you’re making a salad or a wrap!)
*A note on ingredients: I almost never measure my ingredients. I did this time because I wanted to be able to write down the recipe. Every cook is different, and everyone has different tastes. If you want more or less of anything, go for it!
**I straight up did not measure this, but it FELT like it was in this range. I poured directly from the bottle into the pan. This is a forgiving recipe, sauce-wise, and I think you will be fine with whatever amount you use.
EQUIPMENT
Paper towels and/or clean dish towels
A heavy pot or pan or a heavy book or two (trust me it will all make sense later)
A mixing bowl (something that is deep/high walled, ideally)
A tablespoon
A ½ tablespoon
A ¼ tablespoon
A fork
A spatula
A large frying pan
A baking sheet
Parchment paper (if you have it, if you don’t, don’t worry about it!)
A can-do attitude (lol sorry couldn’t help myself, but it *is* important)
Okay, let’s dive in!
This recipe made enough tofu for 4 entree-sized salads.
1. Gather all of your ingredients and pieces of equipment and line them up on your counter.
2. No, really, go do it.
3. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
4. Read this entire recipe through one more time before you get started. Visualize each of the steps and how you will execute them. I’ve included pictures to help with this.
5. Place folded up paper towels or dish towels on a flat surface. Remove the block of tofu from the package, and place it on top of your little towel mountain. Place another set of towels on top, and then gently set your heavy pan or books on top. Make sure that the weight is evenly distributed so the tofu doesn’t get crushed and the heavy things slide off. Check in on it to make sure it stays straight and doesn’t get wonky, but otherwise leave it for about 20 minutes. If you want to change out your paper towels halfway through, you can do that — they will absorb a LOT of water from the tofu, and we want to get as much of that water out as possible.
6. While your tofu is pressing, prepare the dry spices. In your mixing bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, ½ tablespoon onion powder, ¼ tablespoon cayenne pepper, and a generous pinch of salt. When I say “generous pinch of salt”, I swing open the top of my salt well and use my index finger, middle finger, and thumb to pick up as much salt as I can, and that is my “pinch”. Your pinch might be different. Every pinch is beautiful. Whisk these ingredients together with your fork, and set aside.
7. Once your tofu is done OR you are tired of waiting, remove the weights and towels and gently slice it into bite-sized cubes. I will be honest with you, I cut tofu thinner than I wanted it to be but I changed my mind on shape halfway through cutting and had to improvise. This is why you gotta think things through. But! Even though these are not the beautiful 1-inch cubes I wanted them to be, they still taste incredible! And yours will too, so don’t stress out too much about how big or little they are. Just slice that tofu into squares, baby.
8. Add your tofu to the mixing bowl with the spices, and get ready to get a mini arm/core workout. No, really, I am serious. Gently toss the cubes around in the bowl until they are all generously coated with the spice mix. You might think this sounds quick and easy, but you would be surprised how long it takes to actually get that stuff evenly spread around. If little pieces of tofu break off your cubes, that’s okay. If any pieces get stuck to the walls or bottom of the bowl, gently pry them off with your fork. I held my bowl with both hands and tossed the tofu for about 5 minutes until they were coated to my satisfaction. You might be tempted to speed up this process by mixing them with the fork, but don’t! The tofu is too tender, it will break apart. There might be some leftover spice mix in the bowl, but that’s okay.
9. Heat up your frying pan for a few minutes on medium-high heat. You want this pan to be hot before you add the oil in. Add the 3 tablespoons of canola oil, and swirl it around the pan. It should shimmer and move quickly — that’s how you know it’s hot enough. Dump your bowl of tofu in. Gently adjust the cubes with your spatula to make sure that most, if not all, of them are touching the pan.
10. Resist the urge to stir them! It might seem counterproductive, but we are trying to sear them, which means we want them to build up a nice crust, and that happens when the spices touch the hot oil and stay put for a few minutes.
11. After the tofu has cooked for about 3-5 minutes, gently stir and flip them with your spatula. The side of the cube that was touching the pan should have a visibly darker color and a thick little crust on it. Try to flip them so as many of them as you can manage have that dark side UP. They should be medium to dark brown but not black, if they’re black just make sure to flip them sooner next time. Let them sear in their new positions for another 3-5 minutes. Repeat this flip-n-sear process one more time.
12. Once you feel that enough of the outside of your tofu has been seared, turn off the heat and dump them on a baking sheet. Some of them might be sticking together or in clumps, and you’ll want to make sure and separate all of them so they can bake undisturbed.
13. Place them in the oven for 15 minutes. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, we will be using it again.
14. While they’re in the oven, clean up a little bit. Put away the measuring devices you don’t need and the ingredients you’re finished with and put the mixing bowl and knife in the dishwasher or hand wash it. Why? Because this makes life so much fucking easier, that’s why. Clean as you go. At first it sucks but once you’re in the habit of doing it you’ll never look back.
15. Once you’re done cleaning, prep whatever else you need for the meal. I rinsed and tore romaine and chopped up a cucumber because I was making a salad. You can use the romaine and cucumbers in a wrap, too, along with bleu cheese or ranch dressing. You could add carrots, celery, avocado — really anything you’ve got! It doesn’t have to be fancy, the tofu is already fancy, don’t overthink it.
16. Once the tofu is done, take out the baking sheet and set aside. Heat up your pan again, but this time on medium-low heat, and add in the 2 tablespoons of butter and Frank’s red hot sauce. Stir vigorously.
17. Once the butter is melted and the sauce is starting to bubble a bit, add in the tofu. You can scoop it in with your spatula, or, if you’re using parchment paper like I did, create a parchment paper tunnel and slide those bad boys into the pan.
18. Gently mix the tofu and the sauce together until it’s evenly coated, about 1-2 minutes. You can add in more Frank's if you think it needs more sauce. Turn off the heat, and transfer the finished tofu back to the baking sheet.
19. YOU DID IT!
20. YOU MADE BUFFALO TOFU!
If you make this you have to tag me so I can drool over your beautiful Buffalo tofu meals.
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