Asian Tofu Vegetable Pancakes

5 from 4 votes

Savory vegan, gluten-free Asian Tofu Vegetable Pancakes – a healthy dim sum recipe with 16g of protein per serving. Fun appetizer for Chinese New Year! (Makes approximately 5 to 6 pancakes)

Prep Time15

Cook Time5

Total Time20

Course: Appetizers/ Snacks

Cuisine: Chinese

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Fat, Low Lactose, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 261kcal

Author: HWC Magazine

Equipment

non-stick pan

Ingredients

10 ounces tofu soft (drained well)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon oil
4 tablespoons bamboo shoots cooked and chopped or veggie of choice
2 tablespoons bell peppers (red) finely chopped or veggie of choice
1 tablespoon green onion chopped
2 tablespoons mushrooms chopped fresh (not dried)
1 tablespoon soy sauce (coconut aminos or tamari for gluten-free)
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1 teaspoon orange zest (or crushed dried tangerine peel)
salt
to taste
oil or cooking spray to pan fry pancakes

Dipping Sauce (Optional)

3 tablespoons soy sauce (coconut aminos or tamari for gluten-free)
1 clove garlic
peeled and chopped finely
1 teaspoon ginger peeled and grated - fresh
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon black Chinese vinegar or rice vinegar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place your drained tofu in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let the tofu marinate for about 5 minutes (This process helps the water escape from the tofu, a tofu press if you have one of those would also be a great option). Drain the water from the tofu and mash with fork.
Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of cornstarch into the mashed tofu and mix well. You may need to add a little more cornstarch to get the right consistency, depending on how well you drained the water. You are looking for it to be the same consistency as super thick ricotta cheese or if you held your spoon on a tilt it stays on the spoon. Set aside.
Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and sauté the vegetables. We used bamboo shoots, bell peppers, green onions and mushrooms just until the vegetables start to become aromatic and fork tender. Add soy sauce (or coconut aminos, tamari sauce), white pepper, Chinese 5 spice powder, and orange zest and stir until well incorporated and juices have evaporated.
Add the cooked vegetable mixture to the tofu puree, add salt to taste and mix savory pancake batter well.
Spray your non-stick frying pan with cooking spray or a little oil and heat up to medium. Drop tablespoon of the tofu mixture into the pan and flatten gently. Fry gently about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown on each side. Be very careful when you turn them as they are very fragile. Also do not put your tofu veggie pancakes too close to one another in the pan or it will make it difficult to flip over. (If your first tofu veggie pancake was too difficult to turn, you need to add more cornstarch to your tofu veggie pancake batter and try it again.)
Make your dipping sauce. In a small bowl add tamari (soy) sauce, garlic, grated ginger, sesame oil and vinegar. Mix and serve with Asian Tofu Vegetable Pancakes. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Recipe Tips

Feel free to choose 9 tablespoons of raw vegetables of choice for this recipe but do not choose wet veggies like tomatoes.
Be sure to fry the vegetables until soft. After you add the soy sauce, cook until the liquid is evaporated.
Use a non-stick pan for the best results.
Do not add a lot of oil, just enough so the batter does not stick to the pan. This step keeps the savory Asian pancakes light and healthy.
We suggest keeping space in between the pancakes to make them easier to turn and do not make them too large.
Be gentle when flipping vegetable pancakes made with tofu as they are fragile. It may take you a couple of tries to perfect the process.
Lastly, if the pancakes are falling apart, you probably need to add more cornstarch as a binder.
Your tofu pancake batter needs to be as thicker than ricotta cheese or otherwise your pancakes will be very difficult to turn in the pan. We start out with adding about 2 tablespoons cornstarch and then just keep adding a little more at a time until we reach this consistency. When we can hold the spoon on an angle and the tofu stays on the spoon, you are there.
If you fry your first tofu veggie pancake and it is really difficult to turn or it crumbles, it is because you need to add more cornstarch to your pancake mixture. Add a little more cornstarch and give it a go again.

Nutrition