Vegan fish fillet using tofu with a nori and rice paper “fish skin” that is stuffed with roasted tomatoes and herbs served with a light roasted tomato sauce.
I was playing around with how to make a good vegan fish fillet substitute that didn’t gross me out. I’ve tried a store-bought version of vegan fish before and it was kinda awful. It smelled and tasted too much like the wrong things you want your fish substitute to be. The version I’ve created here has a slight taste of the sea from the nori, but that’s where I stopped. I went more for the texture and look with this.
The tofu is cut about 3/4 of the way through in slices to resemble the fish fillet layers. Then I toss it in a roasted tomato vinaigrette overnight or for at least an hour.
To create the fish skin I cut a sheet of nori to the same size as the tofu and then repeat with the rice paper using scissors. I use a cornstarch and cold water slurry as glue to bind the layers together and to the tofu.
The next step is to put a roasted tomato half and some herbs on and tie up the two pieces using twine.
Now you’re ready for cooking. Preheat the oven to 375°F and get an oven-proof skillet hot on top of the stove. Add in a glug of oil and carefully place the tofu fish fillet bundle in the hot oil. Cook for a few minutes and then using a spatula flip the bundle over and place it in the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and carefully remove the fish fillet bundle. Cut the twine with scissors and discard. slide the bay leaf out and discard.
Pour the roasted tomato juice into the hot pan and warm it up. Add in a couple of tablespoons of vegan butter and whisk to incorporate. Serve with the Vegan Fish Fillets. Watch the video below to get a better idea of how each step is done. The full recipe is below the video.
https://youtube.com/shorts/G0md7DsWfRQ
Vegan Fish Fillet with Roasted Tomato
Ingredients
Marinade:
- .5 Cup roasted tomato vinaigrette
Tofu Fish Fillet:
- 14 ounce tofu extra firm
- 4 roasted tomato halves
- 8 fresh bay leaves
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 sheets nori seaweed
- 2 sheets rice paper
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp. avocado or olive oil
Sauce:
- 1.5 Cups roasted tomato juice
- 3 Tbsp. vegan butter
Instructions
- Make the marinade according to the instructions.
- Cut the tofu block in half the short way and then cut each half through the middle of the tofu slab to create a top and bottom (See video). Place 2 chopsticks on the cutting board and make slices into each tofu fillet (the chopsticks will stop the knife from cutting all the way through (again see video). Pour the marinade over and let marinade for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Prepare the “fish skin”: Cut the nori sheets into rectangles the same size as the tofu fillets. Cut the rice paper to the same size. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 1 Tablespoon of cold water. Brush the uncut side of each tofu fillet with the cornstarch slurry, then place the sheet of nori, brush the nori with the cornstarch slurry, and then place the rice paper on top of the nori.
- Place all the tofu fillets skin side down on a cutting board. Place a roasted tomato half on half of the tofu fillets. Add a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, salt, and pepper on top of the tomato halves. Place a tofu fillet cut side down on top of the tomato halves. Using twine, tie up each stuffed tofu fish fillet bundle with 2-3 ties.
- In a large oven-proof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Carefully place the tofu fish fillet bundles into the hot oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the “skin” is crispy. Flip over each bundle and turn off the heat. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and using a spatula carefully remove the tofu fish fillets from the pan and place on a plate. Cut the twine off each bundle and discard. Slide out the bay leaf from each bundle and discard.
- Add the roasted tomato juice to the pan and gradually whisk in the vegan butter. Season to taste and serve with the vegan fish filets.
Notes
Nutrition