You Say Catfish, I Say Tofish

I love cookbooks. I have two bookcases full of them. I also love reading through them at bookstores and the library. One recipe I spotted had the name tofish in the title. I rather like it. I have found it a simple matter to convert most fish dishes vegan using tofu. So, tofish works quite well!

Growing up in the South, catfish is probably the most often fish dish you'll find. Fried and blackened are the two most common ways to prepare it. I have several catfish recipes, mostly fried, of course, that I look forward to veganizing. This is one of those.

Front Porch Fried Tofish

One package black soybean tofu*, frozen, boiled, pressed, sliced
One package cornbread mix (I used sweet cornbread. See note.)
1 T. garlic powder
2 T. dried thyme
1/2 T. salt
1 t. black pepper
1 t. ground red pepper
Vegan milk of choice (I used unsweetened soy)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour the milk in a separate bowl. Dip the tofu slices first in the milk, then into the cornbread dry mix and coat well. Fry a few pieces at a time in oil. When nicely browned, drain on paper towels. Serve as is, or with tartar sauce.

Note: read the ingredients on any packaged cornbread mix you buy. Many contain animal products. If you can't find a suitable one, make up your own.)

I used the sweet cornbread variety, but next time might try it with regular cornbread.

*I chose to use this new type of tofu I found, black soybean tofu. I was intrigued by it, never having seen its like before, so bought it with the idea of using it to fry up some *fish*. It isn't as white as regular tofu and has a sprinkling of black throughout. I liked it, and will buy it again, but I can't tell you whether or not it had a different taste.

You can't have fried *cat*fish without fries, and, never one for doing anything simply, I made mine spicy.

Mexican Fries

One package frozen french fries
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. chili powder

Bake the fries at 425 for 10 minutes. In the meantime, mix together the three spices. After the 10 minutes are up, sprinkle the spices over the fries, and return to the oven to bake another 10 minutes. When done, shake the fries up a bit to further distribute the spices.

My family devoured it. No leftovers. Even my non-vegan son tried the tofish and declared it *pretty good!* I call that a success!