Yields: Enough for 2 to snack on!

Recipe and photo by the Hodo Kitchen

You know you don’t need the chicken! This recipe doubles as a lesson in a tofu-cooking technique that you may or not be familiar with. Often, folks will ask us if they can freeze tofu, and you can, but the texture will change. And for this recipe, we want the freezing and thawing to do that magic for us, which results in a meaty texture. Pro tip: check our Extra Firm Tofu Tips on our Instagram highlights for more visuals on the process!

***We know the recipe for Buffalo Sauce is contentious out there, but we're just keeping it really easy on this one!

Ingredients

• 1 (10oz) block of Hodo Extra Firm Tofu Locate Product

• 1 cup veggie broth

• 3 cups of frying oil (rice bran, safflower, peanut or other high smoke-point oil of your choice)

• Ketchup, to taste

• Habanero sauce, to taste

• Ranch dressing

• All of your favorite veggies for dipping: carrots & celery are classic!

Dredging Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rice flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1/2 tbsp turmeric

• 1/2 tbsp onion powder

• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tbsp white pepper

• 3 medium eggs or 1/2 cup of aquafaba or other egg alternative

Instructions

1. Remove tofu from it's package and squeeze out as much water as you can from it by evenly pressing.

2. Place tofu in the freezer overnight or at least 2 hours

3. Thaw and squeeze out the water. When tofu is frozen, the water expands and when it thaws the tofu will release the excess moisture (a method often employed in traditional tofu dishes to make the tofu a sponge for flavor, which is what we are trying to achieve here.)

4. Refreeze (ideally refreeze with weight on the tofu!) and re-thaw! You can do this days in advance.

5. Hand tear the tofu into 1 inch irregular sized pieces (you’ll notice the textrure lends itself easily to breaking apart)

6. Poach the tofu in a salty veggie broth for at least 15min.

7. While the tofu is poaching, heat up your oil to 350F and get your dredging components ready by mixing all of the dry ingredients together well in a mixing bowl. Put your egg replacer in a separate bowl.

8. Gently squeeze out some of the moisture from the poached tofu, but not all of it!

9. Toss the tofu in the dry mix, then drag it through the aquafaba, and then back to the dry mix.

10. Fry in oil until crisp and golden brown! (We don't worry much about the internal temp since tofu is already fully cooked naturally!)

11. Mix up a couple of tablespoons of ketchup with as much hot sauce you can stand. Toss the fried nuggets to coat well and enjoy with a plate of veggies & ranch!