Please help me like Tofu!

[Squishedpickle]

Hi all,

Please can you give me your favourite recipes for Tofu? I really want to like it, but in recipes so far I have really struggled with the texture. I've never had really good Tofu so no idea if that is just how it is or if cooking it differently will help. What are the recipes you use to convert non Tofu lovers? Thanks

Me too! I so want to like it

Marinade it in garlic, soy sauce, ginger and honey for a few hours then bake it in the oven.
Obviously, there are lots of other recipes but baking or frying are essential to get rid of the horrible wobbly texture.

The BOSH cookbook helped me fall in low with tofu. One of my favourite recipes is sweet chilli tofu. Absolutely delicious!

www.bosh.tv/recipes/crispy-chilli-tofu

Tofu scrambled 'eggs' are also lovely as a side with a bit of veggie/vegan bacon sausage and beans!

First of don't buy silken tofu, and make sure what youre getting is extra firm.

Buy good tofu. I find the tofooo one much better than the Cauldron one which never seems to go firm no matter how much I press it.

The Cauldron marinated stripa are okay in a stir-fry etc

The golden rule in our house hold is about crispy tofu cutting into chunks, coating in corn flour (and a small bit of salt and garlic powder), and frying until crispy then adding sauce. Everyone one I've served tofu to that way has liked it

Baking tofu also changes the texture

I don’t eat tofu often so definitely no expert but I really enjoyed some crispy honey chilli tofu with cashew nuts a while ago. It was really tasty! I used firm tofu, you pat it dry and roll in seasoned corn flour before frying for crispness. I can’t find the exact recipe but this one is similar - www.cookwithmanali.com/honey-cashew-tofu/

ilovevegan.com/garlicky-cashew-broccoli-tofu-stir-fry/

tofoo.co.uk/recipes/hoisin-tofoo-wraps/

realfood.tesco.com/recipes/veggie-rice-bowl.html

tofoo.co.uk/recipes/char-sui-tofoo-noodles/

Try these before giving up on tofu! I've converted people with all of them

@RedPandaMama and everyone, thank you I have some tofu looking baleful in the fridge, never thought of frying it!

The trick is extra firm tofu.

I regularly make this recipe to make it taste like “chicken”, and bake it for about 40-45 mins at 200oc which really helps crisp it up.

Like you, I hate the texture of mushy tofu so always bake mine so I can use it how I like…

itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/baked-tofu-bites/

I use this as crumbles in Chilli/Bolognese/taco meat/stir fried in Chinese sauce, in salad etc.
That being said I don’t eat a lot of tofu even though I don’t eat meat/dairy. But the above recipe will really help you enjoy it!!

It's horrible, and smoked tofu is like eating rubber.

My friend whizzes it into a tomato pasta sauce to make it creamy.

I j e a brilliant recipe but it's fairly hard work so keep for special occasion. Look up the Ottolenghi Black Pepper Tofu (but use far less pepper than recipe states). Restaurant standard recipie.

The deep fried stuff is delicious filth. But you'd need a Chinese supermarket to get it right.

Extra firm tofu, press it if it’s very wet- I wrap it in kitchen roll put it between 2 plates and put a big book on top.

Cut it into cubes, toss in a little soy sauce, then a little cornflour. Bake for 30-40mins turning halfway through, then dump into a stir fry for the last minute or so.

This is lovely too and better than takeaway:

frommybowl.com/vegan-black-pepper-tofu/

I recently went to an event where they served crispy tofu with a peanut satay sauce, that was amazing and I’m assuming the crisping was just similar to recipes quoted above, some of which look amazing…

I cut it into chunks, coat them in cornflour with a little bit of salt and a huge amount of white pepper and fry that in small batches until crispy. Then I stir fry veg, add my sauce and when the sauce thickens, I toss in the crispy spicy tofu chunks.

Here's an amazing tofu recipe, really simple and all my family love it - picky eaters and bland flavour haters included :-)
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crispy-tofu

Press ALL the liquid out of it (1 hour plus wrapped in kitchen roll under a weighted plate should do it)
Marinade in chilli/garlic/soy/miso/sesame oil/whatever else you have.
OR: cube and toss in seasoned cornflour. (salt, pepper, dried chilli flakes, paprika, garlic powder, dried herbs, anything else)
Fry in a very hot pan for at least 10 mins.

Lots of types of tofu (think pronounce dofu)

Love tofu skin, have a decent broth, used to add protein to ‘dirty’ noodles (insta noodles.) 🍜

Amazon has it as, ‘ Vegetarian Gluten Balls ’ but tofu balls also good for hot pot 🍲 (photo attached)

Like folk said above, marinade in some sugar, little salt, some vinegar, some soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil etc. for an hour or two then cook.

I tend to keep the pickled ginger and crushed garlic pre-prepared in jars in the fridge as it’s less of a faff, faster and more convenient.

If you have a rice cooker, then cook the marinated tofu, on the top shelf, as the rice cooks.
(We tend to fry an egg over-easy on the rice too (homage to nasi goreng.))

The marinaded cauldron foods one is a good entry level tofu. I cook it in a ginger soy honey sesame seed sauce

I have to ask why?
I’ve been vegetarian for over 20 years and never felt the need.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/oct/21/chilli-tofu-recipe-vegan-meera-sodha

Even dh will eat this. Last time I made it, I couldn't be arsed with the cornflour and frying and he actually preferred it. I used tofoo brand, which is quite tasty in its own right.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions!

If it's the texture that bothers you, try freezing the tofu first. When you come to defrost it, the texture will be completely different: spongier, much nicer. It will also then absorb any marinade far more easily.

The marinade I always make is a mixture of teriyaki and sriracha sauce. Once the cubed tofu has soaked it all up, fry for a few minutes on all sides. It's delicious!

I came on to say freeze it first too - snap! Total game changer.

This is really nice
www.budgetbytes.com/pan-fried-sesame-tofu-with-broccoli/