Wicked Weez of the West

Sometimes, Homer’s wrong.

Tofu Burger

I’ve been a vegetarian for around 18 years. I made the change during my first year of high school, when, at the impressionable age of 13, I thought that my new friend (Jane) was wise and knowledgeable when she went on about the ethical and moral treatment of animals. And much to the dismay of my meat-loving parents, I decided to give up animal flesh. Not eating seafood was never an issue given I’ve always found the taste of fish, and other sea creatures, disgusting. And despite a momentary lapse during ages of 17 – 21 when I ate chicken again, I still don’t include meat in my diet.

Now that I’m older, and know a lot more about nutrition, I’m happy to say that my reasons for sticking with this diet/lifestyle are more to do with my health. And although I’ve been a vegetarian for so long, for the most part I’ve been a very bad vegetarian. I used to eat way too many carbs, and would rarely replace the protein with non-meat alternatives; I have always hated mushrooms (they’re for dirty people), and I have a serious dislike for tofu. But I knew that the Japanese ate a lot of tofu, so a few months ago, I thought I’d try to see if I could make tofu palatable.

After being inspired by a co-worker’s tofu patty lunch, and researching a few recipes online, this is what I came up with:

Tofu Burgers

Ingredients

Patties (recipe makes 6-8 patties)

• 300g firm tofu, well drained (‘momen’ in Japan)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 eggs
• 1 C dried breadcrumbs (fresh breadcrumbs don’t soak up as much moisture)
• 1/2 C grated cheese
• 4 T tomato sauce
• 1 T BBQ sauce
• 1 t soy sauce
• 1 t dried herbs (I use basil, oregano, & parsley – choose your own adventure!)
• oil, for frying

Burgers

• bread, buns, or rolls of your choosing
• lettuce
• sliced tomato
• beetroot
• cheese
• tomato sauce
• mayonnaise
• wasabi
• whatever filling you like to put in your burgers
• etc.

Method

1. Combine patty ingredients (aside from oil) in a mixing bowl. Seriously. It’s that easy. If the mixture appears wet, add a few more breadcrumbs. Wet mixture will not hold its shape when cooking.
2. Heat the oil in a frypan on a low heat, and form the mixture into balls, in between golf and tennis ball-size. Squish into a flat shape (approx. 8cm diameter, 1cm thick), and place into the pan. I usually get 4 patties in a regular-sized frypan.
3. Fry over a low heat for about 4 mins on each side. You don’t want them to burn, but a little colour is visually appealing, as well as helping them stay together. I find it easier to use two spatulas to turn them.
4. Once cooked, remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.
5. Prepare you bread – fresh, toasted, buttered etc. – and assemble the burger to your liking.
6. Enjoy!

I also modified the recipe (omitting cheese) and made it into a mince-like dish. Perfect for making tofu tacos!

Note: It is essential that the tofu has been well drained. A hint I picked up from one of my Japanese students is to heat it in the microwave for around 30 seconds. It helps remove some extra moisture. Also, I originally added a grated carrot to the mixture, but found it was too watery, so have not included it since.

Do you have a favourite tofu recipe to share?

Tofu Burger Ingredients

Tofu Patties Cooking