Vegan schnitzels (gluten free)
Gluten free, egg free, dairy free, veganThis recipe uses Australian measurements. Use gram and ml weight for international accuracy.1 Australian tablespoon = roughly 4 American, New Zealand and British teaspoons (so 1 extra teaspoon + your regular tablespoon)
Ingredients
- 500 g firm tofu frozen overnight then boiled
For the flour mixture:
- 100 g gluten free corn starch (see notes)
- 6-8 g fine salt see notes – important!
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) smoked paprika
- freshly cracked black pepper to your tastes
- 1 teaspoon (1.5g) porcini powder or mushroom powder (optional, see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) MSG (optional, see notes)
For the dredging liquid:
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) milk of choice (I have tested soy and lactose free whole milk)
- 20-40 ml (1-2 tablespoons) Tamari or gluten free soy sauce
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
To finish:
- 100-150 g plain gluten free bread crumbs
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil.
- Cut the tofu out of the packet and place it into the boiling water. Boil for 15-20 minutes or until the tofu is defrosted and the corners of the tofu have started to flick upwards. Place the tofu on a cake rack and allow to cool to a comfortable hand temperature.
- Combine the ingredients for the dredging flour in a shallow bowl. Do the same with the dredging liquid, and place the bread crumbs in a third bowl.
- Place the cooled tofu onto a chopping board with the short facing upward. Slice this into 4 rectangles – they should be roughly schnitzel sized. This will depend a little on the shape your tofu comes in.
- If you want to, trim the tofu pieces into slightly abstract shapes to replicate a schnitzel. You can crumb and fry the leftover pieces, so there is no waste involved. In fact, I find it helps use up the excess crumbing ingredients, if there are any.
- Place the first schnitzel into the dredging liquid and allow the excess to drip off. Place it into the flour mixture, then back into the liquid. Let go of the piece of tofu fully so that you don’t leave dry edges from where your fingers were.
- Allow the excess liquid to drip off, then transfer the nugget into the bread crumbs. Toss to coat completely, ensuring all sides are covered. Place your coated nugget on the cake rack.
- Personally, I like to dip my schnitzels into the bread crumbs twice. Skip the flour mixture, but dip the breaded schnitzel back into the liquid and then into the breadcrumbs again before returning to the wire rack. This results in a nicely crumbed schnitzel.
- Repeat with the remaining tofu pieces until all your schnitzels are coated.
- Pour a thin 1/2 centimetre layer of vegetable oil into a large solid bottomed skillet or pan over a medium heat. Make sure your space is well ventilated.
- Once the oil is shimmering hot, add about 1-2 schnitzels (pan size dependent) evenly spaced.
- Allow the schnitzels to cook for two minute or so, then turn them. They should be lightly golden on the first side. Cook them on the second size for a minute or two, then turn them again. Cook them again on the first side for minute or two, then turn them one last time to cook on the second side. Cooking them twice on each side ensures the corn starch is cooked through and not pasty or floury.
- It’s important to control the heat so they are not overly browned by the time the flour is cooked through. They should only be lightly browned after the first round of cooking, then golden brown after cooking again. Adjust the heat as necessary.
- Transfer the cooked schnitzels to the cake rack to cool and repeat the process of cooking the remaining schnitzels.
- Best eaten fresh but they keep well for a few days.
Notes
- How much salt you add depends heavily on a number of factors. If you don’t have the nutritional yeast, mushroom powder or MSG, your nuggets will be less salty tasting, so add the higher amount. With that said, salt is very subjective, so add salt based on your general preferences. You can always lightly salt each nugget at the end if you need to.
- How meaty your tofu ends up is quite dependent on the brand. I have tried some that worked really well and some that were just ok (I don’t remember which was which!). If your tofu doesn’t have a meaty texture, try a different brand (and always make sure it is firm tofu!)
- Read the notes in the body of the post about a corn free option.
- Read the notes in the body of the post about oil temperatures and cooking. A nugget cooked on a lower temperature will end up soggier than a nugget on a higher temperature.
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