Breaded and fried like a fried chicken burger, this vegetarian alternative takes advantage of the heartier texture tofu takes on when it’s frozen, defrosted, and pressed before it’s cooked. The tofu is also marinated in a buttermilk mixture that both infuses the tofu with flavour and melds with the breading ingredients, creating a dry batter on the outside that turns into a crispy brown coating. Everything else is easy——some cheese, pickles, lettuce, and a simple sweet-and-spicy mayo sauce stacked in a Grizzly burger bun for a restaurant level burger made in your own kitchen.
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours (includes 30 minutes pressing tofu and 1 hour marinating tofu)
Freeze tofu and then defrost in the fridge overnight. Remove from packaging and place it on a cutting board with a tea towel folded under one side of the board so it’s on an incline. Put a ceramic plate on top of the tofu for 30 minutes to press. Liquid will drain out of the tofu.
Tofu comes in many different shapes. Ultimately, you want two rectangular portions that resemble the thickness of a burger patty weighing around 125g for this recipe, so cut the tofu block however makes sense to get two “patties.”
In a sealable container, combine buttermilk, salt, garlic powder, miso, pickle brine, spring onion, and salt until everything is combined and the miso is broken down into the buttermilk. Add pressed tofu pieces, turning to coat and refrigerate in mixture for an hour or overnight.
Fry Tofu
In a bowl, combine flour, salt, garlic powder, and chile powder from the Breading ingredients list. Lift the tofu out of the buttermilk marinade and place it directly in the flour thoroughly drenched in the buttermilk. The extra liquid clinging to the tofu will combine with the flour to make the coating. Gently using your finger tips, press the flour mix against the tofu so that significant clumps of hydrated flour stick to the tofu. Do this across the entire surface and repeat with the second tofu piece.
Fill the bottom of a wide frying pan with a 2-cm-thick layer of oil. Heat over medium-high heat until a pinch of the flour mixture sizzles immediately when added. Carefully add the breaded tofu pieces and allow to fry until the breading on the underside of the tofu is golden brown. Carefully flip the pieces of tofu so the other side can brown. Once evenly browned, carefully remove the tofu pieces to a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle immediately with more salt.
Make Sweet-Spicy Mayo
Combine all ingredients until smooth. Feel free to add any additions you might want.
Assemble Burger
Cut burger buns in half. Spread Sweet-Spicy Mayo on both cut sides. Put a layer of pickles on the bottom, the tofu patty on top, a piece of cheese on top of the tofu patty, and a small mound of lettuce on top of that. Close the burger and enjoy!
