Tofu Chicken, that looks like chicken! - vegan, gluten free

Serve in a salad, or with pasta, or a stir fry....the options are endless!

Ingredients:

1 block firm tofu (frozen and thawed yield better texture)

1/2t low sodium chicken stock (vegan) (can double this but i'm aiming for low sodium)

about 1 cup of water (alternatively you can use broth)

pinch of turmeric

pinch of onion or garlic powder

pepper to taste

Any herb or flavouring you wish (Ie, curry powder, nutritional yeast, vegemite, rosemary, Italian herbs, crushed garlic, miso paste, balsamic vinegar, peanut butter, soy sauce...etc) * if using a sticky sauce, brown first, then add sauce and cook through.

Serves about 3 "sides"

Method:

step 1- Tear (with your hands, like a neanderthal- go on, get into it!) a firm tofu block into chicken cubed size chunks. Small pieces will be crunchy and larger ones will be more succulent.
step 2- Add tofu to a sautee pan. Cover them with vegan chicken stock at least half way and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to soak all sides.
step 3- Once tofu has absorbed the flavour cook on Low-medium to "toast" and brown ( i made this oil free by using non stick stoneware pan- YMMV) and medium high for a juicy centre.
step 4- Keep stirring every few minutes and brown to your liking. This may take about 30 minutes.
It can become dry and chewy, and adding additional stock to rehydrate will make it more succulent and have more flavour which you may need to dry off until it gets crispy again- but not dry. It's a bit of a dance, taste test as you go.
step 5- Once browned to your liking you can store it in the fridge to use in salads and sides.

Taste- I like to use half the stock concentration but i wanted it to be really low sodium, but double or triple the stock would really taste like chicken i imagine!

Texture- Not stringy like chicken, can be chewy and dry if overcooked- like chicken! When juicy it is tofu-like in texture.