Ever since I started smoking meats, I've given myself a goal each year: to learn a particular cut, play with techniques, experiment with wood, make my own sauces, etc. I'm happy with how I do ribs. I want to make a small zine of my BBQ sauce recipes. Food is my love language, so when I spend hours in the backyard tending to the fire, there's a lot more sweat in this labor. 

Many of my friends are vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian, so I wanted to challenge myself in 2025 with veggie BBQ. And more than just sides, though I do make a mean smoked creamed corn.

Tofu's been a weekly-ish staple in our household for a couple decades, due in large part to the twice-fried goodness found at The Grit, the dearly departed veggie/vegan restaurant in Athens, Georgia. I wondered if I could mix methods and came up with this recipe that folks in my IG feeds kept asking for, so here it is, without any real measurements, just feel. 

SMOKED N FRIED TOFU

Freeze a block of extra firm tofu for just a few hours. Prep a marinade: soy sauce, honey, sugar, molasses, apple cider vinegar, splash of sesame oil. Cut tofu into 4 thick, brownie-style blocks and press. Slip the tofu and marinade into a marinatin’ vessel, let sit a couple hours or more.

Set your smoker at 220° with a mix of lump charcoal and hickory wood chips for flavor (mesquite might be nice, too). You can place the tofu straight on to a rack in the smoker, but I fear it might stick. My recommendation: place the tofu bricks on a small wire rack, on a small cookie sheet, then stick them in the smoker, farthest away from the fire. Smoke for 1.5 hours, remove and let cool for 15 minutes.

Get a skillet going with peanut oil for frying. Drop smoked tofu in a mix of corn starch and dry rub. Fry about 4 minutes per side. FREAKING YUM.

A note: The smoke really brings out the saltiness of the marinade, so if you don't like your food salty — I am a salty boy — skip the dry rub and just use cornstarch with a dash of salt for the dredge. Alternatively, you could tamper down the saltiness with sour cream or an Alabama-style white sauce. —Lars Gotrich, vikingschoice.org