Tofu, Pea and Herb Fritters

Here’s a spring-perfect way to enjoy tofu–turn them into fritters with peas and herbs. I used scallions and dill but use your favorite spring veggies and herbs. They’re super easy, too.

When you’re craving salmon cakes and crab cakes but you can’t shake persistent thoughts of a meatless alternative these tofu fritters happen instead. I have these Quinoa Cakes deep in the L+A archives—but using tofu was new to me.

What an inspired idea, I thought, but it lasted for just a second. Somehow I knew that Google would burst my bubble and I was right—of course everyone else has done tofu fritters before, how silly of me.

But though this recipe may be not be culinarily innovative it’s still worth sharing. I wanted a spring-themed fritter so I paired the tofu with peas and instead of bold flavor boosters like curry powder or turmeric I opted for something simple, a flexible recipe that I could use for variations down the road. So I went with unexotic but not bland herbs and seasonings.

My humble add-ons were dill and scallions but this would work with parsley or cilantro and whatever spices you prefer. Bell peppers would be a great addition, too, and I can see Thai-inspired tofu fritters happening soon with the addition of Thai red curry paste. 

The biggest tip I can share is to make sure your tofu is well-drained before you use it. Though I normally use extra-firm tofu in my cooking I went with the softer silken variety for these fritters because the latter seemed to be the popular choice in the recipes I came across on the web. Both will work just fine.

Important: If you use firm tofu you can crumble the drained block in small pieces. With the silken variety I recommend draining the block at least several hours or overnight. After mine had drained for a few hours quite a bit of liquid had collected in my bowl. Then dinner plans changed at the last minute so my silken tofu stayed in the fridge until the following afternoon. I was surprised to see how much more liquid had drained out of it. And contrary to recipes that instruct the cook to use a food processor I found that mashing the tofu in a bowl with a fork was much easier and worked great. A food processor would have turned the tofu to mush.

Even if you drain the tofu overnight you will still have a slightly moist mixture but don’t worry. Up until you form the patties and press them into the plate of bread crumbs you’ll think that your fritters will fall apart but they won’t. They will magically come together in the pan, turn a beautiful golden brown with a light crispness on the outside and steaming inside. They will be firm enough to eat with your hands but would pair well with a light salad, too.

They also reheat well in a pan or toaster oven, the dill flavor more amplified a day or two later. I used a store-bought sweet chili dipping sauce for my fritters but you can use anything you like—tzatziki, teriyaki or tartar sauce.  And as weird as it sounds, try melting a slice of cheese on top of the fritters as you reheat them—it’s what I did with my leftover pieces and they tasted great, especially with a dash of green Tabasco. If I’d had hamburger buns I would have been tempted to make a mock fish sandwich with them.

But scratch that. They don’t need to be called mock anything. These tofu fritters don’t need to play second fiddle–not to a salmon cake, crab cake or a fish sandwich. They can certainly hold their own.