Tofu isn’t just for vegans anymore—but it is for breakfast. Heh heh.

sizzlin' tofu
sizzlin’ tofu

Tofu is nothing more than curdled soybean water, but boy, did it enjoy a heyday in the ’60s as the only grocery-store-available substitute for everything the hippies didn’t want to kill.

It’s now making a little bit of a popularity comeback, and I don’t need to explain that if you’ve already watched Jun make his own tofu perfectly calmly and beautifully from his perfect home kitchen in Japan. You have to see the treehouse he built for his cats, too. But I digress.

I don’t worry too much about the nutritional value of tofu or how to best use it as a replacement for things I don’t want to eat or don’t have on hand at the moment… I just like it. So breakfast tofu is often served with whatever else is around—sometimes that’s bacon, toast, and mushrooms sautéed with green onions and other times, it’s nothing at all.

Yields4 Servings

 1 lb firm tofu
 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
 sea salt and pepper
 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1

Briefly drain the tofu (no need to press or freeze or anything protracted like that) then cut into whatever size pieces you want to eat. I slice mine about 1” by 1” by 1/2” so they’re tiny book shapes rather than cubes, but whatever floats your boat.

2

Heat the grapeseed oil in a seasoned iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and swish the pan around. Add the drained tofu in one layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and cook about 5 minutes, until lightly browned.

3

Flip over with a pair of tongs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook the other sides another five minutes.

4

Dump into a bowl and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast, stirring it in while it’s hot.

5

Serve with hot sauce, chimichurri, sautéed mushrooms and green onion, bacon, soy sauce—or whatever your pea-pickin’ heart desires.

Ingredients

 1 lb firm tofu
 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
 sea salt and pepper
 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Directions

1

Briefly drain the tofu (no need to press or freeze or anything protracted like that) then cut into whatever size pieces you want to eat. I slice mine about 1” by 1” by 1/2” so they’re tiny book shapes rather than cubes, but whatever floats your boat.

2

Heat the grapeseed oil in a seasoned iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and swish the pan around. Add the drained tofu in one layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and cook about 5 minutes, until lightly browned.

3

Flip over with a pair of tongs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook the other sides another five minutes.

4

Dump into a bowl and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast, stirring it in while it’s hot.

5

Serve with hot sauce, chimichurri, sautéed mushrooms and green onion, bacon, soy sauce—or whatever your pea-pickin’ heart desires.

breakfast tofu

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