I was a bit dubious when I first made these herb crusted tofu triangles; I didn’t think they would work with the tofu flavoured only by the herb crust. It sounded a bit ‘Blandsville’, but somehow, it does work and the herby, cheesy crust makes a wonderful, textural contrast with the tofu.
Plus they make the best sangers. Fry up some herb crusted tofu triangles and build your perfect schnitzel sandwich. I got some fresh focaccia from the Haberfield bakery (the best Italian bread in Sydney), started with lashings of mayonnaise, lettuce, avocado (of course), tomato, and some seeded Dijon mustard. Voila! It looked like one of those chicken schnitzel subs from the deli (well, kind of). Anyway, it’s certainly up there with the best of best vegetarian sandwiches. You really can’t go wrong with fried crumbed stuff on a sandwich – it’s bound to be brilliant.
Herb crusted tofu triangles
Adapted from The Tassajara Cookbook: Lunches, picnics and appetizers by Karla Oliveira
- 450 grams (16 ounces) of firm tofu
- 1 cup of dried breadcrumbs
- ½ cup of finely grated parmesan or asiago cheese
- 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon of dried basil or marjoram (I usually use a combination of fresh herbs, chives, parsley, thyme and savory)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried savory
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons of milk or soy milk
- olive oil for frying.
- Slice tofu into slices about 1 cm (⅓ inch) thick. Cut into squares and then triangles, pat dry and drain on paper towels.
- Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, pepper and salt in a shallow dish. Dip tofu in egg then into crumb mix.
- Heat oil in fry pan. When hot, fry tofu on both sides on medium heat until golden brown and crunchy, for about 10–12 minutes.
Makes about 18 triangles.
The Back Yard Lemon Tree 
That sounds amazing! I did used to love schnitzel back in the day and haven’t tried making a vego version, so thanks for sharing!
Never tried a tofu sarnie before…looks like I have been missing out. Cheers for the shove in the right direction Ms Elizabeth. Your version looks eminently scoffable. I doubt there would be any leftovers. A sandwhich girl after my own heart 🙂
I think this is fairly easy to veganise, I’d add some sesame seeds or ground nuts to the bread crumbs. I’m not sure what you’d use in place of the egg to get it stick to the tofu though.
Besan flour works wonders when it comes to stickiness for coating etc. Vegans use it to make faux omelettes and to batter and crumb things. I will use that to sub for the egg 🙂