Tofu Burgers

This recipe was among my first tries at cooking with tofu.  I think the original recipe came from one of Molly Katzen's Moosewood cookbooks, but I'm not entirely sure now.  I did find the combination of flavors in the OR both a little weird (tahini, miso and basil???) and underwhelming, and have over time found my own happy flavor mix.  But the basic technique for creating a burger patty out of tofu remains the same.  A delicious twist on this flavor mixture is using a curry paste instead of tomato paste with mint for the fresh herbs. 

The one thing you can do "wrong" here is to make the mixture too wet by not pressing enough moisture out of the thawed tofu or by adding too much stock.  The result will be a mushy patty rather than a toothsome burger at the end of cooking.


Tofu Burgers
Makes 6 burgers

14 oz. water-pack tofu, frozen then thawed
1 tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp dark soy sauce or tamari sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
stock or water (about 4-6 tbsp)
2-3 tbsp minced herbs (I like chives and parsley)
pepper

Squeeze as much water as you can out of the thawed tofu.  Be ruthless.  You might want to do this over a strainer to catch any crumbles.  Crumble tofu into a bowl. 

Put 1/4 of the crumbled tofu in a food processor with miso, soy sauce, tomato paste and garlic.  Process until very smooth.  Stir this mixture into the remaining tofu, combining thoroughly.  Stir in cornstarch and breadcrumbs and add enough stock/water to form a moist but not wet mixture.  Season with herbs and pepper (no salt needed). 

Shape into 6 patties.  Freeze or fridge now on a baking tray, if desired, then bag frozen patties.  To bake, preheat oven to 400F.  Do not thaw.  Bake 20 minutes, then carefully flip.  Bake 8-15 minutes longer, until browned and heated through. Pin It