Chicken fingers tend to bring back childhood memories of meals at the museum, picnic tables at Disney World, and weekend stops at local diners–our daughters’ childhoods, that is.
Judy and I remember the chicken finger request often, whether it was standing at the snack stand at the town pool, or glancing over the kids’ menu at almost ANY restaurant in the time before the girls started requesting the “big menu.” I don’t remember chicken fingers much in my own childhood, and I know Judy had never heard of them until she arrived in the U.S.
But Kaitlin mentioned the other day that back in New Jersey, she’d ordered her favorite Chicken fingers with honey mustard at the diner, and it triggered some ideas.
Why not make our own with an awesome honey Sriracha dipping sauce? And while we were at it (coming off the awesome Crispy Tofu Tacos we made a little while back), why not try crispy tofu fries for all the vegetarians out there?
Thus, this duo of dippables was born. Let the double dipping commence!
Recipe Instructions
Combine the ingredients for the coating in a shallow dish. Combine the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Remove the tofu from the package, drain, and let sit on a paper towel for about 15 minutes to let any excess liquid drain off. When ready, cut the tofu into long rectangles. Cut the chicken breasts into tenders.
Mix together the tablespoon of Sriracha with a tablespoon of honey, and carefully dip the tofu fries into the mixture, followed by a generous coating of the breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the fries are coated.
Then, do the same with the chicken fingers (mix up a little more honey and Sriracha if you’ve run out).
Now, to cook them, you can try the baking method by drizzling everything with olive oil and baking at about 375 degrees until they’re crisp. But we found that shallow frying them in a thin layer of oil yielded crispier and tastier results.
So if you want to go that route, in a cast iron or non-stick pan, heat 1/4 cup of oil and carefully fry the tofu in batches until crisp on all sides. Do the same with the chicken. You may have to add some extra oil if the coating starts to looks a little dry.
And that’s it! Tofu fries and chicken fingers, served with a really delicious Honey Sriracha Mayo.
Serve immediately with dipping sauce and dip away!
A Duo of Dippables with Honey Sriracha Mayo
Ingredients
For the coating:
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs or panko
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
For the dipping sauce:
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the coating in a shallow dish. Combine the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Remove the tofu from the package, drain, and let sit on a paper towel for about 15 minutes to let any excess liquid drain off. When ready, cut the tofu into long rectangles. Cut the chicken breasts into tenders.
- Mix together the tablespoon of Sriracha with 3 tablespoons of honey, and carefully dip the tofu fries into the mixture, followed by a generous coating of the breadcrumbs. You may have to press a little to get the coating to stick. Repeat until all the fries are coated. Then, do the same with the chicken fingers (mix up a little more honey and Sriracha if you've run out).
- To cook them, you can try the baking method by drizzling everything with olive oil and baking at about 375 degrees until they're crisp. But we found that shallow frying them in a thin layer of oil yielded crispier and tastier results. So if you want to go that route, in a cast iron or non-stick pan, heat 1/4 cup of oil and carefully fry the tofu in batches until crisp on all sides. Do the same with the chicken. You may have to add some extra oil if the coating starts to looks a little dry. Serve with your dipping sauce.
