Filipino Tofu Tapa (Vegan Recipe)

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.

📝 Ingredients

• 23 oz extra firm tofu (or tokwa)
• 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
• Neutral oil
• Remaining marinade from the tofu
• Fried Garlic Rice (Sinangag)
• Vinegar with onions and chili ((recipe below))
• Sliced tomatoes
• Crispy fried garlic
• 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

1. 1--- PREPARE THE TOFU ---
2. 2Drain the tofu from water and pat-dry or press. See notes for tips on choosing extra firm tofu.
3. 3Thinly slice the tofu using a peeler or slice using a knife. Smaller broken pieces are perfectly fine for different textures!
4. 4Do 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.
5. 5--- MARINADE/SAUCE ---
6. 6Add 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.
7. 7--- MARINATING THE TOFU ---
8. 8In a large container, place a few layers of the thin slices of tofu. Pour some of the marinade over the tofu.
9. 9Place 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.
10. 10Leave the tofu to marinate at least overnight in the refrigerator for best flavors.
11. 11--- COOKING THE TOFU ---
12. 12You 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.
13. 13--- PAN-FRYING ---
14. 14See air-frying option below.
15. 15Heat a large non-stick pan or skillet over medium heat. Add a generous amount of oil so the tofu doesn’t turn out dry.
16. 16Once 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.
17. 17Pour some of the remaining marinade into the tofu and allow the sauce evaporate.
18. 18Be sure to keep an eye on the tofu since this an easily burn from the sugars in the sauce.
19. 19Once the tofu is cooked to your liking, remove this from the pan.
20. 20--- VINEGAR ---
21. 21For 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.
22. 22--- TO SERVE ---
23. 23Serve with Fried Garlic Rice (recipe here), sweet chili vinegar, tomatoes, and fried garlic.
24. 24I 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!
25. 25--- AIR-FRYING ---
26. 26If air-frying, you can line the air fryer basket with some parchment paper to prevent from sticking.
27. 27Place a few strips of tofu on the air fryer basket. Pour some of the marinade over the tofu. Spray the tofu with some oil.
28. 28Leave 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.
29. 29--- AIR-FRYING OR PAN-FRYING? ---
30. 30Personally 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.