Vegan MoFo Day 8: Tofu Lollipops!

I finally did it. I deep fried something. I'm not completely ashamed of deep frying, only because it's so much fun. And looks pretty [[the bubbles?]]. But I'm a little ashamed. It made me feel better to eat a side of kale with it.

It occurred to me yesterday that I haven't had a corn dog in forever. The last one I had was probably at the California state fair in high school. I can't be certain, though. Anyway, all this reminiscing on corn dogs inevitably lead me to want a corn dog really bad.

I briefly flirted with the idea of using store bought veggie dogs, but I didn't really want to use the amount of oil it would require to deep fry long hot dogs. I suppose now that I think about it, I could have just chopped them into little sausage bites, but tofu seemed more exciting. It probably just made me feel better like the kale did.



So these guys turned out pretty elegant. They look less carni, hot-dog-on-a-stick and more tasty tofu surprise at the end of a stick. Tofu is a cool thing to use for a corn dog inspired dish because you can flavor it any way you want to beforehand. And then you can have different, exciting flavors inside your crispy cornbread encasing.

[[Tofu Lollipops]]
This will make about 16 lollipops. I just used half of the grilled tofu, saved the rest for lunch, and made half a cornbread loaf with the rest of the batter.

1 block of tofu, pressed for 1 hr
2 tbs olive oil
chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper
1 tbs soy sauce

1 recipe for cornbread, with a dash of chili powder
* I used one from The Joy of Vegan Baking, but here's one from the PPK. I trust them. If you want to use your own, just make sure it's a neutral cornbread and not a sweet one.
1/3 cup white flour
16 bamboo skewers, you can find them at kroger
a pan with 2-3 inches of vegetable oil

-- To begin, unwrap your tofu and drain. Wrap in a clean kitchen towel and cover with a heavy object for an hour.
-- Cube the tofu, drizzle with soy sauce and season. Mix with a spoon to coat tofu with seasoning.
-- Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. When heated, add the tofu and cook until all sides are browned. Remove from skillet and set tofu aside.
-- In a pot, heat vegetable oil on high, about 2-3 inches [[enough to submerge the tofu]]. Be careful not to get any water in the oil, it'll sizzle and burn you.
-- Prepare cornbread batter, adding a few dashes of chili powder.

-- Set up a frying station: Tofu, white flour in a bowl, and cornbread batter.
-- Stick tofu on skew and dust with flour. The tofu won't stay on the skewer well until you fry them, so be careful.
-- With a spoon, dip the skewer in the cornbread batter and use the spoon to completely coat the tofu. The batter will be thick so it won't dip easily. Just scoop and spread it on there.
-- Dip the skew in the heat vegetable oil for about 10-15 seconds. Watch them, they will brown quickly.
-- Place on a plate and do the next one.
-- Lightly salt them and serve with mustard, ketchup and hot sauce.