Winner, Winner, Pickle Juice-Brined Fried Tofu Dinner 🥒

So there was this brick of tofu I had put in the freezer at home after a quick drain… as you very well may know, freezing tofu alters the texture giving it a more substantial bite. Plus with my heading back to DC, I didn’t want it to go bad in the fridge. As the weeks went by and I bounced back and forth from DC to home, I asked my guy to take it out of the freezer to begin thawing before my arrival… only to ask him to put it back in the freezer when my short visit did not allow me to cook. This happened like three times until finally, this time, I made the fried tofu I had been wanting to make! Ah, it’s just one of the things I miss–my pantry and space to cook.

So I really wanted to try using a pickle juice bring like I had heard Chic-fil-a did. And so, I got to cross it off my list.

The pickle juice mingling with the almond milk.

Ripped tofu bits brining. I should have made bigger pieces… but I was thinking like popcorn chicken.

Now I used the spice blend from the recipe I used when last making fried tofu-chicken. But this was a bit of a foolish move given these spices were paired with a mild veggie stock brine from the previous recipe. Paired with the pickle juice it would all prove to be a bit too assertive. Still very yummy… but too assertive.

The dredging station

The first dredge. The second would include corn flakes in with the flour.

My alien dredge fingers

The frying!

All done and resting. They had a great crisp to them

The makings of my potato salad. All the flavorful stuff I love… red onion, gherkins pickles, relish, dill and a tangy silken tofu base.

It was a fantastic summer meal! But the assertive tofu needed a sweet sauce for balance, which I did not have. But I suffered through it LOL… it was still very delicious and pleasing in so many ways.