Teach me tofu please.....

[IntlMom]

I love tofu, but I have to admit that have never cooked it myself. I select it at restaurants and enjoy it, but have no idea what to do with at home, or even how to buy it....

can you help me?

(and others that want to know too)

thanks!!

[Libby]

Its really not as scary as you think it is. There are several kinds of tofu as well and trust me they're all tasty!! I used to babysit for this couple and I'd be in charge of prepping dinner for them or at least getting it started. They had tofu twice a week!

They'd buy a firm brick of pressed tofu and then I'd slice it into 1/2" thick slices and wipe off excess water and just pan fry them in olive oil until browned and crispy. Sometimes I'd use diff seasonings to change it up.

I love boiled tofu in soups especially miso soup. You cube it up and toss it in near the end just before serving so it has enough time to warm through. (also firm pressed tofu)

I also love the soft tofu desserts - flavoured differently: ginger, strawberry, coconut, mango, peach and almond. Yum!

Don't be afraid to play around with tofu - how else are you going to learn to cook with it?

[Vanilla]

I have tofu at least once a week. Different types of tofu call for different cooking/receipes.
What kind of tofu you can get: soft, regular, firm, package in a plastic box or paper box?
I usually use the regular firmness for stir fry, firm ones for deep fry, soft one for soup or add to a dish just before dishing it up.

[Palooka]

Tofu pretty much takes on the flavor you want.

This might help to skim through and it has some good info.

The Tofu Thread!!

[mauimagic]

If you're making a stir fry of anything, just cube some firm tofu and add it near the end of cooking - will stretch the food and the tofu will take on the flavor of whatever you're cooking.

DD's favorite way was and is to drain off the water, top with a sprinkle of soy sauce and eat the whole thing!!

Please let us know what you make with your own tofu!!

[sabrelvssammy]

make sure you read the labels as to the type as soft is good for smoothies but does not work well with stir-fries or if you want to slice it in any way (it falls apart and turns to mush)...

the key to getting tofu to hold up in your recipes is to 'press it'...(i know, the box, package says already pressed) but remember it is packed in water so you need to think of it as a giant sponge and it has absorbed all the water from the packing and you need to get it back out so that it can absord the flavors you are cooking with. Tofu is completely tasteless to begin with.

i remove my tofu block from the package and wrap a dishtowel around a few times and set a heavy object on it for about 1/2 hr... you will be completely suprised how wet the towel becomes and how firm the block will get. You can now slice it with a knife and it has the consistancy of a piece of chicken. (don't do this with soft tofu or you will have 'soup' in your towel)...

i like to slice my tofu and fry in a pan of olive oil. I sprinkle pepper, garlic powder @ chili powder over the slices. Then i cook on med-low for about 1/2 hr turning 1/2 way through..(i like to get a hard crunchy browned outer coating on mine)...

or you could cube the block and using the same spices, stir fry it all up to add to recipes....

soy sauce is another good ingredient to add... i like to use Tamari (it's a REAL soy sauce unlike other soy sauces that are mainly 'fake' ingredients...check out the back of a kikoman bottle sometime) did you know a soybean takes 7 yrs to ferment...so manufacturers don't have that kind of time and they 'made up' a soy sauce concoction. Tamari is not that much more expensive than 'fake' and it is becoming more widely avbl in the groceries now...

anyway..another thought is to make smoothies from soft or silken...just add the tofu, fruit of choice, a little milk (i use soy or rice) and blend away....yummy....

have fun....

[Dancing Lotus]

Silken tofu is good for smoothies.

I buy the firm tofu in the refrigerated section for everything else. Make sure you are buying Organic as soy is THE MOST heavily sprayed crop.

Also available is a product called TVP. Textured vegetable protein comes in a dry form that sorta looks like bread crumbs. They are excellent to use in things like veggie chili. Bod's red mill makes it as well as others. It's pretty cheap. I paid two dollars for a big bag.

[craftypam]

I haven't read it, but I heard that Eat More Weigh Less has alot of recipes with tofu.

[RaineyDaye]

Thanks for this post... it's exactly what I was looking for. I made a stir fry last night with firm tofu. I followed the recipe in the cook book exactly. It didn't say to press it to get the moisture out, and the tofu tasted terrible, had no flavor... I'll try making the recipe again and be sure to press out the moisture.


Is there anything you can make with the soy liquid you press out of the tofu?