The Trouble with Tofu
 

.......Every so often I buy some tofu and store it in my fridge til its ready to throw away.....The trouble is I dont know really how to do tofu in such a way as to make it taste good ....

Anybody able to help me out with a recipe for tofu ?

I heard a recipe for "Steamed Tofu parcels" on the radio a year or so ago but when I tried to find it online I struck out....

Tofu (the firm kind) is pretty good cut into chunks and stir-fried with all your traditional stir-fry vegetables. Can't stand the softer tofu at all.

But that's about it, as far as I'm concerned. I cannot imagine any other way it would be tasty.

You might find something interesting at www.epicurious.com or www.foodtv.com.

*nods* stir fry is about all I could think of. I suppose I ought to do the decent thing and chop some veg up....

Fresh broccoli, carrots, red peppers, snow peas and onions. Throw in some unsalted cashews or slivered almonds, some decent teriyaki or szechuan sauce. Nothing fancy, easy to cook, healthy if you're careful about your oil, and it tastes great.

That sounds delightful Thanks. I am never really sure what to include in stir fries. I know the kinds of things to throw in but I dont always get the combo right. End up overloading with too many different flavours and textures. :)

Would you say sesame oil is too strong a flavour to use?

Oh...I just read that recipe back and realised something ( being the observant gal that I am)...I have no clue what snowpeas are

Not really. I don't personally like the flavour of it too much, so I avoid it mostly, but Case loved it and so I used it a lot. I would use less than you would if it was peanut or some other oil though.

ahhh. We call em sugar snaps

Well excallent thanks. I think I might cook just that up this weekend *smiles, delighted*

I think sugar snap peas and snow peas are different. Snow peas are flat and have almost no "pea" to them, but sugar snap peas are definitely 3D and have standard-sized peas inside them.

Personally I hate snowpeas, sugar snap are the way to go!

Deep fry briefly the tofu (firm) then roll in beaten egg, followed by a mix of breadcrumbs and sesame seeds, drop back in the deep fry pan. Serve with some sort of dip, a garlic yogart is my fav.

I find if you freeze or deep fry tofu before using it to reduce the water content it adds to the texture and flavour.

If yopu want to use soft Tofu I suggest that you treat it as a cheese and add it to very sausy food in order to break it down in the sauce, it adds a bit of body and protein to the sauce.

Try seitan instead, it is made from wheatgerm and is easier to cook because it actually has a flovour itself.

I am not to keen on tofu or seitan more then say once a week and I normally use pulses or beans to add protein and flavour to my meatfree diet

That also sounds very nice. The tip about freezing it first is interesting.

I dont have a meatfree diet but I rarely eat meat. I stopped eating it all together for a while but decided I would be healthier with a small amount in my diet....Nice in theory but the stuff turns my stomach unless I am very drunk. .....Soooo either I find a way to get a decent level of protein into my diet without meat or I become an alcoholic. :P

Miso Soup would be easy.

Japanese Recipe
Miso Soup
(with tofu and green onion)
Ingredients:

* 4 cups dashi soup stock
* 1/2 tofu
* 3 tbsp miso paste
* 1/4 cup chopped green onion

How to Cook:

1. Put the soup stock in a pan and bring to a boil.
2. Cut tofu into small cubes and add them to the soup.
3. Scoop out some soup stock from the pan and dissolve miso paste in it.
4. Return the soup in the pan.
5. Stop the heat and add chopped green onion.

* Remember not to boil the soup after you put miso in..
**Makes 4 servings



I like the Silken tofu because it doesn't need ot be refrigerated until it's opened, and I can usually use the whole package at one time.

Try these on for size:

Tofu recipes:
http://www.tofu.com/recipes.html

Christina Pirello of "Christina Cooks":
http://www.christinacooks.com/recipes.php3?letter=T

*scroll down to the tofu recipes*

hit the kabab van after the pub?

I wouldn't worry too much about protein in your diet, there is protein in all sorts of foods and you need less then most people figure.
I have been a vegetarian for 18 years now and I've never spent much time worrying about my diet.

If you don't like tofu ignore it. If you want an easy way to try veg. cooking you can get Quorn in all the supermarkets and it is cooked with just like meat. It is micoprotein i.e. fungi growing in vats, but try not to think about that it is tasty.

Eat the odd lentil or bean dinner and lots of spinich or broccoli

You guys rock

Quorn I dont like. The taste reminds me to much of puffball mushrooms which my dad put me off by drying big steaks of the stuff in his workroom. ....I dont recall why he would be doing such a thing but I do recall the smell

micoprotein i.e. fungi growing in vats

OK, just eat fuckin' meat already.

I mean, how can you complain genetically engineered food and then eat this shit?

*chuckles*

Funny enough I wouldn't have a problem eating GM food, but I'll admit that is a rarity amongst my "type"

We used to be able to pick giant puffball mushrooms at my Granny's farm, if you found them before an adult did you could play football with them, but watch out the really ripe ones would just expode in a burst of spores when you kicked them. I guess they must have evolved the ball shape as a way of attracting children to kick them and thus effect spore dispersal ;)

Oh my word *grins* I had totally forgotten the delights of puffball football! We used to pick them on Over Dale .....My Dad was less into playing footie with them....he used to come back with them after working at night. He always said the best time to collect them was early hours of the morning.

The best recipe for tofu that I have is very simple. Leave it the fuck on the store shelf.

:D

There are however some nice tofu dishes

If you ever got to a Indonesian resturant, choose a tofu satay.

You can do a cheap homemade version with peanut butter and curry powder, used to do it a bit when I was a student.

In general the best dishes for tofu come from countries who have been cooking with it for centuries i.e. Asia

*nods* the recipe I heard on the radio for Steamed tofu parcels ( or pudding cant recall now) sounded gorgeous. that was from some Asian country I think. The way it was described made it sound like the ultimate comfort food

Get some dried tofu (TVP-Textured Vegetable Protein). It won't go bad, and doesn't even need to be refridgerated! Just sprinkle it in chili or spagetti sauce, or hydrate it and mix with sloppy joe sauce. Yummy if you've forgotten what real meat tastes like.;)

The soft tofu works beautifully in soups. For an easy and healthy soup, try taking veggies and adding largely-diced (3cmx3cm or 1inxin) cubes of tufu. Don't add the tofu until the veggies are almost done as it only takes about 7-10 minutes for it to cook.

There is a spicy recipe that calls for soft tofu, green onions (scallions) and a spicy chili sauce that is wonderful. Can also add pork or beef it desired.

Tofu (soft or firm) works wonderfully in hot pot. Similar to fondue, it is a soup base that is full of whatever you like (meats, veggies, spicy, not spicy). Take a selection of raw foods (meats, veggies, tofu, etc) that are in smaller pieces and add to the pot. Cook until done and serve. Wonderful with a peanut-based sauce (usually can find in Thai areas of the grocery store). If you have access to an Asian market and can find the tofu "sheets" these are also delicious - can either use in sheet form, or make knots out of them.

There is also a way to take tofu and soy sauce and make a wonderful homemade tofu-burger-like-thing. Not like the frozen kind in the stores. More like a chicken patty. Very yummy!

Fried tofu is also good, although it kind of defeats the healthy side of eating it! I would stay away from the "stinky" tofu - usually an acquired taste.

Cookbooks and recipes from China, Tawain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan and other Asian cities will have good ideas. I would look for one that is written by a person residing in a Western country; otherwise you may have a difficult time locating other ingredients that may be called for in a recipe. It is one of the most versatile foods around . . . comes in many varieties and can be cooked in countless ways!

*Smiles* since I posted last I have tried tofu in several dishes. The various stir fries have bene the most successful especially the honey and ginger one....Cut into thin steaks and fried is nice when served in place of bacon on a breakfast platter.

I am intrigued to try the softer stuff.

I have been a veggie all my life (never eaten meat or fish) so am well acquainted with tofu. It's a love-hate thing. See it tastes like shit on its own but in a nice stir fry with Schezuan or Hoi Sin sauce (you can buy nice little sachets in Waitrose) it adds a bit of bulk to the meal. And full of protein. Also try smoked tofu - personally I think it's marvellous on its own, a nice texture and taste, but for some reason it doesn't taste as nice in stir fry's as normal tofu. Waitrose also do ready-seasoned tofu chunks which are quite nice. Happy tofu-ing!

i used to eat a lot of tofu...this way is the tastiest:
buy extra firm tofu!
squeeze the extra water out of it.
marinate it, or just brush it with salad dressing, marinade or butter and seasoning.
pan fry it.
yum.

Welcome back, Stacey. Been lurking?

So what do you generally marinate it in?

hi :) i've been busy learning russian, so i stopped going online...
you can use italian dressing, balsamic vinagrette, curry powder mixed with mayonaisse (yum), or just plain old olive oil with salt, pepper and garlic. i LOVE "Lily's vintage dressing balsamic vinagrette". (distributed by crowley and shay's gourmet foods out of massachusetts.) if you can find it you should try it, it's so good. and all of the oil floats to the top if you let it sit, so if you want a reduced fat version of it, you can pour off most of the oil. i think i go through 2 bottles of it every week!

mmmm... tofu..

I don't know if you can get it around there.. but if you can find tofu from 'central soyfoods' the stuff rocks, failing that there are a bazillion recipes out there, one of my favorite was is to smoke it (not like that :)) ) sautee up some onions and morell mushrooms with a touch of garlic, savory and olive il.. yummy

or.. get some blackening spice, dregde it in the seasoning, pan sear it and top it with sauteed onions and peppers..

or.. (although this kinda ruins the health value (and depending on how hard core of a veggie you are) slice the tofu into thin strips.. flour, eggwash and some seasoned breadcrumbs, pan fry it in some olive oil top it with a little marinara and tofu parmesian!

also.. if you have a Target supercenter or a Hyvee around there.. they have been coming out with all sorts of seasoned tofu.. and I gotta say it's really good stuff (especially the portabella flavoured kind)

Hey,we Chinese often put some shallot pieces together with a little vinegar and sauce.
That's a famouse dish called 小葱拌豆腐(i don't know how to say in english ^^)
May be my expression is not very clear,so please take on all the aftereffect yourself ^^