Filipino Tofu Tapa (Vegan Recipe)

4.34 from 6 votes

This Filipino Tofu Tapa is a vegan take on Filipino Beef Tapa, but using tofu! Filipino Tapa is traditionally made by curing beef with salt and letting it dry and cooking it until crisp. It’s usually paired with seasoned vinegar and a side of fried garlic rice and a fried egg for what we like to call Tapsilog.

For this tofu version, I thinly slice or peel my extra firm tofu and marinate the thin slices of tofu in a sweet, tangy, and savory marinade overnight. After marinating, I pan-fry mine in a non-stick pan with oil until crispy around the edges. The sauce also reduces and is better absorbed by the pieces of tofu. I serve mine with a side of fried garlic rice, sliced tomatoes, and seasoned vinegar with red onions and chiles.

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Marinate Time 1

Total Time 1 45

Course Breakfast, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Filipino, Southeast Asian

Servings servings

Calories 297 kcal

Ingredients

TOFU

23 oz extra firm tofu or tokwa

MARINADE

1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp dark soy sauce
1/4 cup calamansi juice or lemon juice (see notes)
4 cloves garlic , minced
Fresh ground pepper

FOR COOKING

Neutral oil
Remaining marinade from the tofu

TO SERVE

Fried Garlic Rice (Sinangag) , see recipe here
Vinegar with onions and chili (recipe below)
Sliced tomatoes
Crispy fried garlic

Sweet Chili Vinegar

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
Pinch salt to taste
1-2 bird's eye chiles chopped (optional)
1 tbsp sugar to taste and counter acidity
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 small red onion diced

Instructions

PREPARE THE TOFU

Drain the tofu from water and pat-dry or press. See notes for tips on choosing extra firm tofu.
Thinly slice the tofu using a peeler or slice using a knife. Smaller broken pieces are perfectly fine for different textures!
Do note that some tofu can easily crumble so if this is the case, it may be best to just thinly slice the tofu instead of peeling.

MARINADE/SAUCE

Add all the marinade/sauce ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup. Mix until all the sugar has dissolved. Feel free to adjust the marinade to your desired taste.

MARINATING THE TOFU

In a large container, place a few layers of the thin slices of tofu. Pour some of the marinade over the tofu.
Place a few more layers of tofu and then pour some marinade again. Repeat this until all the tofu is submerged in the marinade. I like to pour the excess marinade from the container back into a measuring cup and using this to pour over the tofu to ensure that everything is submerged.
Leave the tofu to marinate at least overnight in the refrigerator for best flavors.

COOKING THE TOFU

You can cook the marinated tofu in batches and leave the rest marinating in the container for up to 5 days, as long as it’s refrigerated.

PAN-FRYING

See air-frying option below.
Heat a large non-stick pan or skillet over medium heat. Add a generous amount of oil so the tofu doesn’t turn out dry.
Once hot, place a few strips of tofu. Cook the tofu for 3 minutes on each side or until it starts to crisp up around the edges and begins to dry up. Flip the tofu and repeat on the other side.
Pour some of the remaining marinade into the tofu and allow the sauce evaporate.
Be sure to keep an eye on the tofu since this an easily burn from the sugars in the sauce.
Once the tofu is cooked to your liking, remove this from the pan.

VINEGAR

For the vinegar, I simply mix distilled while vinegar with diced red onions and slice chiles. You can season the vinegar with some sugar to counter the acidity, as well as some ground black pepper. Soaking the onions in the vinegar will turn the vinegar pink.

TO SERVE

Serve with Fried Garlic Rice (recipe here), sweet chili vinegar, tomatoes, and fried garlic.
I like to dip the pieces of tofu tapa into the vinegar and also get some bits of the chopped onion before scooping this with rice. Enjoy!

AIR-FRYING

If air-frying, you can line the air fryer basket with some parchment paper to prevent from sticking.
Place a few strips of tofu on the air fryer basket. Pour some of the marinade over the tofu. Spray the tofu with some oil.
Leave the tofu to air fry for 11-13 minutes or until the edges start to crisp and excess marinade has evaporated. Flip halfway through cooking.

AIR-FRYING OR PAN-FRYING?

Personally I prefer the pan-fried ones since they turn out less dry than air-fried ones. The benefit of air-frying is using less oil and it's also an easier more hands-off cooking approach.

WATCH Video

https://youtube.com/shorts/QBGbeSGVQG4?feature=share

Notes

EXTRA FIRM TOFU

You can look for extra firm tofu that’s vacuum sealed in packs and not submerged in water. These can sometimes be called extra firm or super firm tofu as well, and can come pressed so you no longer have to press these.
They are very very firm and easy to work with since they’re very compressed and won’t break apart.
If using extra firm tofu that easily breaks apart when peeling, you can opt to press the tofu well then thinly slice using a knife instead of peeling.

CALAMANSI JUICE / LEMON JUICE

Calamansi or Philippine limes are a lot more acidic and pack a distinct punch compared to lemon. So if using lemon, you may beed to add more lemon juice or add less sugar since you'll need less to counter the acidity.
Feel free to just season the marinade depending on your preference.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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