I don’t understand tofu. I try and I try and I try, but I just can’t get it right.
Tonight, I tried the freezer method, which I thought was finally going to be the answer to all of my tofu questions. You drain it, freeze it, defrost it, then squeeze the water out again.
It was a bust. As soon as I started squeezing the water out, my block turned into a bunch of tofu crumbs.
I just don’t get it. Is tofu really that fragile? Has anyone ever had the baked tofu from Whole Foods? Because it is really good. Is the person at Whole Foods who cooks the tofu a magician? WHAT IS THE SECRET?
I would appreciate some enlightenment in the comments.
Anyway, Whole Foods’ baked tofu would have laughed in the face of my tofu crumb salad tonight, but to be honest, it didn’t taste all that bad:
Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, carrots, bean sprouts, cucumbers, chick peas, tofu crumbs, mushrooms and Trader Joe’s sesame ginger dressing.
It was the hugest salad ever, I’m pretty sure. I still ate it all, but I’m not so sure I should have. I’m rather full right now, even after taking Jack on an extra long and annoyingly rambunctious walk.
This afternoon, I had yet another round of figs:
This time with plain yogurt and honey.
Figs = can’t get enough.
your tofu looks yummy in my opinion… i am really bad at preparing tofu… all i’ve done is eating it cold, tried to grill it once (yummy but a mess), and of course eaten it at restaurants… so i give you kudos for being adventurous
Okay, here’s my tofu deal. Buy an extra firm block. Put it in between a few paper towels and blot it a little. (the extra firm is pretty dry) Slice it in pretty thick blocks (about 5 long rectangles) Marinate it in Soy Veh (from TJoes) and then grill it. (you can bake it too) Then you can eat it as is, like in place of a veggie burger or cube it and throw it in a salad.
It pretty much rules.
I think extra firm tofu is the key. That’s the only type I ever freeze. As for recipes, try Vegan with a Vengeance: http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=32
that one is mango-ginger tofu.
She also has a good recipe for scrambled tofu.
Thanks, everyone. I actually do always use extra firm. Sigh. I’m a tofu failure.
Johanna, I’m going to look for that Soy Veh!!
I pretty much suck at doing anything other than stirfry when it comes to tofu. I tried baking it the other night and was a failure. I usually just slice the tofu into thin chunks and then spray the frying pan with Pam. It gets nice and brown on the outside. I never really get it crispy but I’m sure with regular oil you could. It always tastes good to me when I do that and then stirfry veggies and have it over brown rice. Delicious! I usually add some reduced sodium tamari soy sauce or whatever sauce I’m feeling at the moment.
Not sure if that helps at all but that’s my only successful attempt at cooking tofu! I must try this baked tofu from Whole Foods.
I feel your pain, I have been experimenting with tofu for a while now. And just yesterday had to throw away a block of tofu I had bought in bulk because I didn’t know I needed to keep it in water, and that it needed to be changed daily. I found all this out after I realized it had gotten really slimy.
But as far as cooking it goes this is all I know: I like to buy the extra firm or firm (either already cubed or I cube it myself), I drain it with paper towels and then marinate it in soy sauce. The I just pan fry it with a tiny bit of oil for about 5 minutes, then add some nutritional yeast, which just adds some texture, and then add a little bit more soy sauce. It turns out kind of crispy on the outside, but soft in the middle. Thats how I like it though. I have yet to try baking or freezing it. But yeah, it seems as though tofu is always good when prepared by health food stores or at Vietnamese or Thai restaurants… however I always get crispy tofu when I eat Thai or Vietnamese which most likely means fried….. oh well it tastes so good.
The freezer method is usually the one I work with, I just roll it in a dish cloth with a big pot stacked on top of it to squeeze the water out.
I know sometimes that it makes a difference between firm & extra firm tofu.. I had experieces with the firm kind getting all crumbly as you said so extra-firm is what I try to look for now.
Hope you have better tofu-luck!
Arielle, what type of figs are you eating? Are they dried? If they are fresh then I suggest you get them someplace else! Fresh figs are supposed to be a deep pink on the inside.
I’m with Richelle. I love the freezer method, but it all goes to hell if I don’t press the crap out of it before I pop it in there.
One of my favorite tofu recipes is this one
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Tofu-Bites/Detail.aspx
You might like it too. It’s such a good snack, or on a salad.
I bake it at 425 for like 30 minutes after blotting it (an extra firm block) and throwing any kind of spices on it with some sesame oil… I turn it maybe once and it becomes really crispy (depending on how long I leave it in). If I do it in a pan, it just sticks, crumbles, and becomes in ugly mess. TJ’s makes a good extra firm brand too.
Thanks for the eggplant tips too. : )
i have a really really really hard time with tofu too. i never seem to cook it correctly. maybe we should start an “i can’t cook tofu” support group.
I don’t know what else to do with tofu except cut it up and stir fry it.
I so want to be good at tofu.
always with the figs…
(must send you this fig tart thingie recipe i have)
you must poop like a champ.
I think I am just going to give up on the freezing. I do much better when I just drain, press and cook. Thanks for all the tips! I will revisit tofu again…
Larissa -
They are dried, from mexico. A mexican fig, you might say.
Meg -
That recipe looks like a good one, thanks!
Betsy -
We could be co-chairs.
Kristen -
I don’t either. I’ve scrambled it, which is a good method for me because it always falls apart anyway, so then it just looks like I meant for it to be like that.
Each -
Please do! And yes.
I adore the Whole Foods Tomato Basil tofu in salads! (with beans and cottage cheese as the rest of my salad, lol). I was at a Penn State Summer thing and they had it on their salad bar E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y.!!!!!!!!!! Lucky, right?!
this one time i burnt tofu really bad, but when it was pointed out by my oh so dear friend, i pretended that i liked it scorched. “it was on purpose.” it was actually disgusting. good luck, keep us posted with your tofu endeavors.
[...] 30, 2008 by arielle Remember when I wrote about how I am really bad at cooking tofu? (Sorry there are no pictures in that post; when I had my photo issues, all of my uploaded ones - [...]