Tell me how to make Tofu nice!

[Paulie Tandoori]

Perhaps you do this anyway but I recently learned that you should squeeze the water out of the tofu if you want it to absorb the sauce. It's amazing how much you can squeeze out - then it becomes like a sponge and soaks up whatever it is cooked in.

That's a very good point actually, stick the lump of tofu between some kitchen towel or a tea towel and gently squeeze it before frying or sticking in sauce does work a treat.

Any left over lumps should be stored in some water in an airtight container and can then be sorted out like this as well, keeps for a good few days usually.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

Will that make it TASTE of something though? or just give it a better texture?
Do I need to marinate it AFTER i've squeezed out the water and fried it perhaps?
Hmmm...that might be an idea....

Well, flash fry gives it a smokyish flavour, whereas 5/mins in a sauce should mean it will soak up some sauce.

Then, like i said earlier, there are some brands now that are already flavoured and they can be loverly, or you can marinade as you point out after squeezing. It's very versatile once you give it a go, honest

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Ace. Thanks everyone. I feel inspired to have another go now!

Cheers

 

[Sir Belchalot]

I always use the tofu from Chinese/Vietnamese shops which is less firm than the supermarket stuff. I dry fry it for about 15 mins draining the water out as I go, then fry it for another 15 mins until it's nice & crispy on the outside. Lovely stuff

 

[Almor]

I prefer it raw myself - makes a lovely sandwich with tahini and salad.

I quite like raw tofu as well, but I usually cut it into cubes and cook it in a pan with a little oil and splash soy sauce over it, and then fry it in place (no whacking it about with the spatula) at a fairly low heat (just enough to spit), turn it over when it's browned and fry that side and then start adding veg.

I also found some some cashew butter (paste, whatever), which sticks to the tofu quite well during frying and tastes nice, but I've not been able to get more. Peanut satay paste doesn't work so well.

I use Cauldron foods tofu.

I used to dry it before use but don't bother anymore, just give it a bit of a squeeze when removing it from it's plastic.

 

[crustychick]

I echo what the others have said (apart from the tofu-hater-weirdos)

1. Buy the firm stuff.
2. squeeze all the water out of it – place something heavy on top of a tea-towel on top of the tofu for a while. An hour or so?
3. marinade it – my favourite is soy sauce, ginger, garlic and honey, but there’s loads of stuff you can marinade it in, and leave it for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge.
4. fry it gently and add it to something

YUM. I love tofu.

A great discovery I made the other day, while in Crouch End, was a seemingly endless selection of different flavoured tofu (and tempeh) in the veggie/health food shop there – just down the road from the boy’s new pad. So exciting – a whole new world of tofu deliciousness!

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Tofu is already nice, what do you need to do to it?

I quite oftern have it uncooked, but marande it and fry it etc if you must.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

inarizushi?

kitsune udon?

summin along those lines perhaps

 

[ada]

Basically, what crustychick and Almor said.

I marinade mine in a mix of:
Tamari (dark japanese soy sauce)
Rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Chilli garlic sauce.

I tend to fry it with the marinade in the frypan too - the marinade boils down and cooks into the outer layer of the tofu.

To get tofu to have a really spongey texture you have to deepfry it; you can buy packets pre-fried at many asian stores.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

inarizushi?

Where is tofu in that? Are the bags tofu? They taste like shit anyway.

kitsune udon?

Fox udon?

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

yeah the bags are marinaded tofu as far as i know

and yeah named after the foxes supposed love of Aburaage same goes for inarizushi

 

[Ground Elder]

A few good recipes here

 

[Y_I_Otter]

I have a couple pieces of pine board I use to press the water out of bulk tofu. I just put the blocks between the boards and sit a water-filled jar on top.

For deep-frying, it helps to coat the pieces with a dusting of arrowroot powder or cornstarch first. This ensures a crispy exterior and helps keep the pieces from breaking up in the hot oil.

It's possible to buy firm tofu that's already deep-fried and ready to cut up for stuffing or adding to stir-fries. Typically, they come in packs of four standard blocks and are far firmer than you could make them at home. Also available at Chinese grocery shops are sealed bags of "tofu puffs". These are smaller pieces of deep-fried silken tofu, which have swollen into light, airy things that soak up the sauce of whatever they're cooked with.

I'm not a fan of using fried tofu that's been frozen. It tends to leak water when you cook with it, leaving sponge-like holes all through it and the finished texture's rubbery.

 

[will-c]

My first inclination is too say put 'make up on it' as tofu just dont taste or feel right. It can be mixed with wild mushrooms in a red or white wine sauce.

 

[Ms T]

Mrs Miggins, are you vegetarian? If not here is a recipe for Ma Po Tofu which I think is quite nice.

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/tof1/r/mapotofu.htm

I was going to suggest that too. I'm not a tofu lover, and even I think that's nice. I *heart* Sichuan food.

 

[machine cat]

mapo doufu ftw!

you can by the sauce in most chinese supermarkets for about 50p a packet

 

[_pH_]

i find freezing it (firm tofu that is, not silken) gives a nice chewy texture - good for chillis