beer battered buffalo tofu skewers w/ creamy cucumber sauce

some good friends of mine sent me a text late in the evening to ask a last minute favor of me.  they were headed to a vegan dinner the following day and were to bring an appetizer to share...enough for 7 adults, and wondered if i could whip something up for them.

well, i love the excitement and since they already had an idea of what they wanted to bring (another friend had suggested it) i said bring it on.

i cranked out a deep brown beer batter, rolled it in some panko, fried 'em up and, well, there you have it.  served with a delicious vegan buffalo sauce on the side and a creamy cucumber sauce (straight from the garden) makes for one delicious appetizer tray.

    

 

beer battered buffalo tofu skewers w/ creamy cucumber sauce

serves 6-8

 

for the buffalo sauce

4 tbsp earth balance

¼ cup franks hot sauce

 

for the creamy cucumber sauce

1 small cucumber – peeled, ½ chopped, ½ blended

1 cup vegenaise

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp garlic powder

½ tbsp celery seed

¼ cup fresh chopped chives

salt and pepper

 

for the beer batter

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup brown beer - enough to get the flour to a medium consistency, not too runny

1 tbsp old bay seasoning

1 tbsp paprika

½ tbsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

 

for the tofu skewers

1 large package of super firm tofu – excess water drained

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

2 cups rice flour

16 skewers

2 celery ribs, for garnish

 

in a small sauce pan, heat your earth balance on low to medium.  once melted, add your hot sauce and emulsify until combined.  set aside

 

in a medium mixing bowl, combine your creamy cucumber ingredients, doesn’t matter what order, and whisk gently together.  put in fridge to cool.

 

heat your deep fryer to 375 degrees.

 

in a large mixing bowl combine your batter ingredients. whisk together until blended well.

 

slice your tofu into 2 in x ½ in fingerlings.  roll each skewer into the flour, to the batter to the panko.  add 2 or 3 into the deep fryer and fry for 4-6 minutes, or until golden brown.  remove, drain and let cool.  do this until you have approximately 14-16 fingerlings.  once they are cooled, you can slide the skewer into them.

 

serve with buffalo sauce on the side as well as the creamy cucumber sauce, celery sticks and of course a cold beer.

enjoy!

 

Comments

[Lauren]

i made these last night and received RAVE reviews from my husband (who adores morning star buffalo wings from the box) he was going on and on and on about how amazing they were. i baked them instead of frying (400 degrees - 10 mins on each side, in case anyone else wants to try it) leaving off the buffalo sauce, they made a great kid-friendly dish. my 3 year old ate them up and she hardly ever eats dinner without being coaxed. congratulations on another perfect recipe!

Lauren

[Meagan]

thanks alexx!!

[alexx]

i love your blog. i usually don't eat fake meats (though i don't really count tofu in that category..) but your recipes literally make my mouth water! i will be making these sometime this weekend and am very excited. thank you so much for making this blog!

[T&D]

We were guests at the gathering where these were served. We are not vegan (or even vegetarians) and we LOVED this appetizer!!

[David Wolfe Rawfoods]

That is so interesting! Wow.

[Melinda DAmico]

These look yummy! Thanks for the inspiration.