Saturday, December 26, 2009

Tofu & Truffle "Pork" Rinds


Two weeks ago I walked out of the Viet Ho market with a huge bag of frozen tofu skins. I had never seen anything like them before, and I had no clue what I was going to do with them. I admit it -- I do love to get challenging ingredients just to see where my imagination will take me. So, the skins sat in my freezer for a few weeks. They were busy mocking me every time I opened it to get some ice or a bit of frozen tomato sauce. Then today it struck me: pork rinds....sort of!

I rarely ever fry anything in my kitchen, but I just knew if I fried up those tofu skins they would puff up like pork rinds -- and believe it or not, I was right. To season them, I used some black truffle salt because everyone knows that truffles are the bacon of the future. Right? You knew that, right?

Ingredients:

Bean curd sheet
Canola oil
Black truffle salt
Pour a 1/4 inch layer of canola oil in a small frying pan and set over medium heat. Tear bean curd sheet into two-inch strips. Fry one at a time, turning once. It will take only a few seconds for the skin to crisp. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle each with a little truffle salt. Enjoy hot or at room temperature.

6 comments:

Bianca said...

Justin, you are a genius! I'm so heading to the Viet Hoa tomorrow to get some of that bean skin. I've seen it, but didn't know what I'd do with it ... I'd glad you did the hard work of figuring that out for me. :-)

Melissa said...

I may have to try this for the hubby who is actually allergic to pork. Looks yummy!

Chatty said...

I am totally loving this idea - just don't know if my oriental market has bean curd sheets - they should - it's a huge market - but I've never seen them. Must look, as these look incredible! Speaking of crunchy goodness - have you tried Double Parrot Black Sesame Seed Spring Roll Wrappers (from Vietnam)? They come in a round clear container, and look like stiff, semi-opaque pancakes dotted liberally with black sesame seeds (they also make a plain version). You just put one sheet into the microwave for about 2 minutes and they puff up like you wouldn't believe! You then break them into pieces and eat them like crackers. But they're different than crackers...just like the brightly colored disks that we throw into oil and which puff up in seconds are different than crackers...anyway, look for them, you won't be disappointed! I'm so glad I found your blog - I have bookmarked it. Happy New Year!

Unknown said...

hi i don''t know if there is an asian market in my town; is there anywhere else i can order the bean curd or tofu sheets from? thank u

The Chubby Vegetarian said...

Try Amazon. I've ordered all kinds of weird food from chefshop and others on Amazon.

Diana said...

Ahhhhh! Trying this out. I love pork rinds and it just occurred to me when I fully transition to becoming a vegetarian how am I going to cure my craving for some. Excited.