Nug Life
Who needs drugs when you got chicken nugs?
A little over a year ago, the sweet husband that he is was experimenting with fried tofu. We have a local Chinese restaurant that we frequent more than we should, but it is all due to their fried tofu. They make the best-fried tofu I have ever had, so we were looking to recreate it. Well, he nailed it, the magical ingredient... CORNSTARCH. Since discovering the magic cornstarch can do, we have continued to use it for such things as bang-bang tofu, or in this case, creating "Chicken" Nuggets.
This recipe is so delicious I guarantee you could trick your harshest nugget critic. These are an ultimate favorite in our home, and a big hit among our friends, even our die-hard carnivores. Awhile back we put up on our Instagram story how to make these, and since then we have had multiple requests for the recipe. So what better way to share than to share with world wide web, WWW?
*Disclaimer* no chickens were harmed in this recipe, but possibly by my eggcelent puns.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Ingredients:
1 pkg -Tofu
2 cups -Vegetable broth (or your preference broth)
2 cups -Corn Starch
3 cups - Coconut flour or oat flour
3/4 cup - Nutritional Yeast
1/4 cup - Granulated Garlic
1/4 cup - Spices as preferred - our go to is Adobo seasoning, but stick to similar seasoning for chicken.
2-3 cups - Vegetable Oil Optional: 1 cup Preferred marinade - soy sauce, Peruvian sauce, etc.
Steps:
1. Press your tofu. The dryer the tofu the better the "chicken" texture.
2. Once your tofu is "dry," rip it up into small bites. The more rugged, the better.
3. Place items in container or zip lock bag and place in the freezer.
4. Freeze tofu for 4 hours or more. We have found that 4 hours is the precise time necessary for all tofu to be completely frozen. (Tip: do steps 1-4 the night prior.)
5. Pull tofu out of freezer containers, place into broth or if you are going with marinade 3/4 broth to 1/4 marinade. Let the tofu soak for roughly an hour, can go longer but do not recommend longer than two hours.
6. While the tofu is marinating, set up your tofu breading station. A container for the cornstarch, a container for your flour/spice mix, as well as heat up the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
7. Now with one hand, place the marinated tofu into the cornstarch and with the other hand toss it around and transfer
to the flour container until fully covered.
8. Once you have about 10 -15 pieces and the oil is hot enough (flick a little water on the oil pan and if it crackles, its ready). Fry the nuggets until golden brown and then flip to get them even.
9. Finally, when the nuggets are golden brown all the way around transfer to a sheet pan with a paper towel to absorb the oil.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 until all the tofu is fried and enjoy!