Tofu Jerky
rec.food.veg/Michael Dunn (1995)

I downloaded a great recipe for Tofu Jerky from a Web Vegetarian page... though I can't remember where at the moment. It requires a dehydrator, which we also use for drying fruit and veggies for trail mix for camping. If you don't have one -- get one -- it'll pay for itself since you won't be paying gobs for pre-made trail mix. Then you can make Tofu Jerky. I would add one comment to this recipe... slice the tofu REAL thin... it'll dry up and get good and chewy after about 10 hours or so of dehydrating.

Tofu Jerky

1/2 cup soy sauce
3-4 tbsp liquid smoke
1/8 cup water
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove crushed fresh garlic if you're brave)
1 tbsp (or more) fresh ground black pepper (be liberal with this)
1 tsp honey (or some other sweetener, or skip it)
1 lb firm or extra firm tofu

Cut and drain the tofu. I usually take a 1 lb cube, cut it in half, and then slice it into strips on its short side. Strips should be about 4-5 mm in thickness. They may look big, but they'll shrink to about half their size.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together well. Put the tofu in single layer in a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet and pour the marinade over it. Let soak for several hours or overnight. Drain excess liquid (and reuse!) and dry tofu in food dehydrator or warm (200 F) oven.

This will take probably 4-8 hours, depending on weather. If you live in a sunny, dry climate (Colorado in the summer), you can sun dry it, it'll take all day. If you dry indoors in the winter, your house gets filled with a wonderful smoky smell. If you're drying in the oven, you'll need to flip the tofu over hourly so it dries evenly.

The stuff is delicious and keeps indefinitely. Dry the stuff until it's very chewy, but not crispy. Be creative: Use low-sodium soy if you want less salt (it is rather salty) Use Tabasco or ground cayenne if you want it hot. Chili powder makes chili jerky. Oregano and basil makes pizza jerky. The possibilities are endless.