By Bianca Tamburello, Dietetics Student, Sargent College

This week at the Karen Jacob’s SC Test Kitchen, we made SC Baked Tofu Sticks with Dipping Sauce. Originally, we thought that the tofu sticks would be ideal for a light afternoon snack, but we unanimously agreed that they are delicious and filling enough to be eaten for numerous occasions.

The sticks are perfect as a savory and healthy dinner party appetizer!  The recipe advises to cut the tofu into friendly sticks but you could also cube the tofu and serve them with toothpicks on a platter. The sticks would also be delicious as a meal paired with your favorite vegetable, such as spinach.

Dipping Sauce

The dipping sauce was really easy to make! We whisked together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and scallions and transferred it to a serving bowl.

If you do not own individual dipping bowls, small handle-less tea cups or espresso cups are great to use for individual dipping sauce holders instead of a large community dipping bowl.

http://superduper.co.za/lucky/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/teacups1.jpg

Tofu Sticks

Cutting the tofu sticks perfectly into 24 sticks is not critical but it is important for portion control. The nutrition facts panel listed below is based on the size of 5 tofu sticks cut from the 24 stick count.

1. We cut the tofu block horizontally into 3 equal parts then
2. stacked the slices and cut them into halves
3. cut them into quarters
4. and finally cut the tofu into eighths

We made the tofu marinade by simply mixing the soy sauce, rice vinegar and garlic. Next, we drizzled the marinade over the sticks and flipped them after 15 minutes to allow each side to soak up as much flavor as possible from the marinade.

The outside breading was assembled using bread crumbs, parsley, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne. Then we whisked the flour and water mixture, that helps bind the breadcrumb mixture to the tofu sticks.

Similar to breading chicken, we thoroughly covered the tofu sticks in the flour and water mixture and then fully coated them with the breadcrumb mixture. Finally, we placed the sticks on a lightly sprayed pan and baked them for 30 minutes.

Step 1: Coat tofu in flour and water mixture

Step 2: Bread the tofu

The tofu sticks were perfectly crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and bursting with flavor. The scallions in the dipping sauce combined deliciously with the parsley and paprika and added moisture to the crunchy breading.

Sargent Choice Baked Tofu Sticks with Dipping Sauce

Yield: 5 servings

Ingredients
Baked Tofu Sticks:
1 cake firm tofu, about 16 ounces
3 Tablespoons soy sauce, low sodium
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 ½ cups whole wheat bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
3 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
6 Tablespoons cold water

Dipping Sauce:
1 Tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon finely chopped scallions

Directions

Dipping Sauce

1. 1. In a small bowl, whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients

Baked Tofu Sticks

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly spray or oil a baking tray
2. Cut the cake of tofu horizontally into three equal slices.  Stack the slices and cut down through them vertically in parallel lines, dividing the cake first into halves then quarters and finally eighths, to yield 24 sticks.
3. Arrange the tofu sticks in a baking dish in a single layer
4. Mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and garlic and drizzle over the tofu sticks.
5. Set aside for about 30 minutes, turning the sticks once after 15 minutes so the tofu will absorb the marinade evenly
6. In a large shallow bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, parsley, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
7. In a separate shallow bowl, whisk together the flour and water until smooth.  Dip each marinated tofu stick into the flour mixture and then coat well with the seasoned bread crumbs
8. Arrange the breaded sticks on the baking tray so they’re not touching and bake for about 30 minutes, until crisp and hot
9. Serve Baked Tofu Sticks warm, accompanied by the sauce