Tips for cooking tofu?

[Anonymous]

My family loves tofu. We drop it uncooked in noodle soups, marinate it and toss it with salads, and my kids like it just cubed raw for a snack. However, every time I cook it, I'm disappointed with the outcome. I press it, marinate it, and either bake it or pan fry it (sometimes tossed with cornstarch first, sometimes not) and every time it ends up too chewy and kind of dry and tough.. If I try to cook it less, it ends up just warmed. When I order tofu at Asian restaurants, not deep fried, it has a nice sort-of crust, but is still tender and flavorful on the inside. Any tips/tricks for getting my cooked tofu to stay a nice consistency and not tough and chewy?

[Anonymous]

I cook Tofu a lot for myself. I will put the tofu on an inverted plate, put a second plate on top and put a jar of spaghetti sauce on it to press. After about 15 minutes, I take the tofu, cube it and put in a plastic bag, dust with cornstarch, and shake the contents to try to get an even, but light coating. I put a skillet with a lot surface area on the stove, add a layer of oil so that it covers the whole surface thinly. Then I put the cubes down by hand one-by-one. The reason that I put the cubes in this way is that the timing works out right. By the time I finish putting the last cube in, the first ones are ready to turn. I use tongs and turn each cube individually and they should have a light golden brown crust on them. I turn each one 180 degrees so that the opposite site gets a night golden crust as well. After I get both opposing sides crusted, I will usually push the tofu to the edges of the pan and put any greens or vegies that I am sauteeing into the middle fof the pan. I put any hard or crispy veggies first (like the stems of cabbage or bok choy, bell peppers, etc). I let sit for a minute, then toss the pan, then I add the leaves of the veggies, let sit for a minute, toss again. Finally add any sauces, let sit quickly and then serve. The crust stays nice and crispy for the first few minutes until the sauces start to soak in. The less sauce you use, the more the crust will last, but the less flavor you'll have. It's a balance.

[Anonymous]

I have tried every which way - its never good, and frankly, there's much easier and healthier and more filling and tasty protein options, so I don't bother anymore except I do really like Trader Joe's precooked (baked) flavored Tofu - they have savory and BBQ. I put pieces in DD's lunches.

I'd forget about it. I prefer so many other vegetarian options. Even tempeh if you want something sort of similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family loves tofu. We drop it uncooked in noodle soups, marinate it and toss it with salads, and my kids like it just cubed raw for a snack. However, every time I cook it, I'm disappointed with the outcome. I press it, marinate it, and either bake it or pan fry it (sometimes tossed with cornstarch first, sometimes not) and every time it ends up too chewy and kind of dry and tough.. If I try to cook it less, it ends up just warmed. When I order tofu at Asian restaurants, not deep fried, it has a nice sort-of crust, but is still tender and flavorful on the inside. Any tips/tricks for getting my cooked tofu to stay a nice consistency and not tough and chewy?

Plus Asian places probably get real deal tofu - not the nasty stuff at the grocery store. years ago, I heard a man in Chinatown sold it homemade, but Im not sure he is still around or does that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cook Tofu a lot for myself. I will put the tofu on an inverted plate, put a second plate on top and put a jar of spaghetti sauce on it to press. After about 15 minutes, I take the tofu, cube it and put in a plastic bag, dust with cornstarch, and shake the contents to try to get an even, but light coating. I put a skillet with a lot surface area on the stove, add a layer of oil so that it covers the whole surface thinly. Then I put the cubes down by hand one-by-one. The reason that I put the cubes in this way is that the timing works out right. By the time I finish putting the last cube in, the first ones are ready to turn. I use tongs and turn each cube individually and they should have a light golden brown crust on them. I turn each one 180 degrees so that the opposite site gets a night golden crust as well. After I get both opposing sides crusted, I will usually push the tofu to the edges of the pan and put any greens or vegies that I am sauteeing into the middle fof the pan. I put any hard or crispy veggies first (like the stems of cabbage or bok choy, bell peppers, etc). I let sit for a minute, then toss the pan, then I add the leaves of the veggies, let sit for a minute, toss again. Finally add any sauces, let sit quickly and then serve. The crust stays nice and crispy for the first few minutes until the sauces start to soak in. The less sauce you use, the more the crust will last, but the less flavor you'll have. It's a balance.

By the way, I'm Chinese. I learned to cook this from my mother. And this even works with the cheap supermarket tofu.

[Anonymous]

I use organic extra firm tofu, press and cube it, marinate it in tamari and oil with spices, then roast it at a high temp, turning a few times. It has the texture I like, it tastes great and it's easy to add to different dishes.

[Anonymous]

It depends on what you want to do with the tofu. There's usually 4 levels of firmness:

Silken - Can be eaten raw (add a sweet ginger drizzle) or small cubes in miso. Very very delicate and will not absorb flavors well.

Soft - Does not pick up flavors well (albeit more so than silken), but has a very nice texture. It's often used when deep frying as the breading will soak up flavors much better and provides a very soft inside.

Medium - This is your general all purpose work horse. You can do everything from freezing it (changes texture to be more chewy) to soups to stir frys and even deep frying. It picks up flavors very well and you don't have to worry too much about over seasoning.

Firm - This is a very difficult tofu to cook well as it will absorb flavors very quickly. You need to be careful not to over season this variety otherwise it will literally soak up all of the flavor and leave the rest of the dish bland.

[Anonymous]

Open package.

Pound on it really hard with a mallet.

Throw it in the trash.

Grill a delicious steak.

[Anonymous]

https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/yu-choy-cellophane-noodle-stir-fry-with-tofu-peanuts

SO DAMN GOOD!

Signed,

an omnivore

[Anonymous]

If you freeze it them thaw the tofu get a cool spongy texture. Great in curries where it soaks up the sauce really well

[Anonymous]

Pan fry firm tofu in slabs with a couple of tablespoons of oil. Both sides. No need for cornstarch. No need to press out water; cover with a splatter screen if you like. Then add liquid ingredients to the pan, bring to a boil, cover and cook on low heat until absorbed (about 7 to 10 minutes).

For a 14 to 19-ounce package of tofu, I would add about 3 tablespoons soy sauce (Japanese/Korean style; not Chinese; they have different flavors), 3 to 4 tablespoons water, some minced garlic, and a pinch of sugar. You can also add some sliced scallions, sesame seeds, chile flakes, etc.

You can take the recipe in other directions with a different choice of braising liquid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pan fry firm tofu in slabs with a couple of tablespoons of oil. Both sides. No need for cornstarch. No need to press out water; cover with a splatter screen if you like. Then add liquid ingredients to the pan, bring to a boil, cover and cook on low heat until absorbed (about 7 to 10 minutes).

For a 14 to 19-ounce package of tofu, I would add about 3 tablespoons soy sauce (Japanese/Korean style; not Chinese; they have different flavors), 3 to 4 tablespoons water, some minced garlic, and a pinch of sugar. You can also add some sliced scallions, sesame seeds, chile flakes, etc.

You can take the recipe in other directions with a different choice of braising liquid.

Forgot to mention to pat the tofu dry with a paper towel before adding to the pan. Fry the tofu until golden brown on both sides before adding the braising liquid.

[Anonymous]

Are some of you 12? Jesus.