Educate me about tofu please?

[mummybookworm]

Hi all.

DD and I don't eat much meat (she just won't, and I can do without, because of the cost currently). I would like to try and incorporate more protein into our diet and was thinking about tofu. I have never bought it, cooked it or eaten it (to my knowledge). I was thinking about incorporating it into stir fried noodles/rice, or curries. Does anyone have any tips/recipes they would share? Thanks.

I like the texture of tofu and use it dry fried in stir fries/noodle dishes. I cook plain tofu with lots of strong flavours like garlic, chilli and ginger, as it's pretty bland on its own but use smoked tofu in more subtley flavoured dishes, as it has a lovely flavour of it's own.

My tip would be that is does need frying to give some caramelised bits/a firmer outside before incorporating into dishes. I cube it into about 1cm cubes to get a nice contrast of soft/firm. Also, it does need to be treated gently to avoid breaking it up so maybe set aside and then add into the dish at the end or stir very gently.

Great, thank you mb, I will add it to my shopping list. I have been looking on the BBC Good Food website for inspiration too.

Quorn is worth looking into too. You pretty much treat it like chicken/mince/whatever it is pretending to be.
Tofu is always MUCH nicer in a Chinese restaurant/take away than when I cook it.

To make the tofu a bit firmer and less likely to crumble, you can gently squeeze and pat with kitchen towel before cooking.

It absorbs flavours quite well so it's worth experimenting with marinades. We use strips of tofu in a breakfast bagel (with cooked mushrooms, tomatoes and relishes) - the marinade is made using a little soya sauce, smoked paprika, veg oil and tomato sauce. The tofu strips are coated on each side with the marinade and then shallow fried.

Another marinade we use is finely chopped ginger, soya sauce, garlic and a little veg oil. We usually cube the tofu for this, and leave to soak up the marinade for a few hours. Very nice cooked on a barbecue or oven roasted.

Something else we do is use mashed tofu in a bolognaise sauce for protein and texture (works better than it sounds!).

Not done this for ages, but scrambled tofu is very easy, combining mashed tofu to e.g. fried onions, sliced tomatoes and mushrooms plus a little soya sauce, mustard and ground pepper, and serving on toast.

I buy the packs of ready smoked or marinated tofu as they have much more flavour - a bit more expensive but still cheaper than meat. If I buy the unflavoured stuff, I only buy the firm and I

We also really like paneer, which is a kind of Indian cheese (you can buy it in Sainsbo's and Waitrose). I cut it into cubes and fry it then add to curries and it's much nicer than tofu.

Sorry - I lost half a sentence there. If I buy the unflavoured firm stuff I cut it into long slices and dip it into a mixture of soy, oil, honey, chilli etc before frying. It tastes nice but smokes the kitchen out!

Thanks so much all, I really appreciate your responses. I bought some marinated tofu in Sainsburys today, and plan on using it in a stir fry tomorrow night. I will try absorbing some of the moisture from it too.

Colonel I tried some paneer a few weeks ago for the first time, and it was yum. I will look out for that too. Thanks again.

To make plain tofu firmer you can freeze it (about 3 days). I only ever do this with the cauldron foods stuff as we don't live anywhere near a chinese grocery store but I'm sure it would work with the big lumps you can buy. My friend makes her own tofu from soya beans!Wow!

tThe marinated stuff from sains that I sometimes get doesn't need any squeezing or freezing, it is yummy (but v. salty) straight from the packet.

'Scrambled' tofu with leek is really yummy - soften a chopped leek in some oil or butter (olive oil if you run to it), then crumble tofu into it and fry hard, adding a good shake soy sauce. (Recipe comes from this book which has lots of easy & cheap vegan meal ideas in it - have used it loads despite being neither single nor a vegan.)

I love it, but no-one else in the house does. Or paneer. I have TRIED.

Tofu can be used in sweets and puddings as well.

There are different types of Tofu.

I'll get back to later with some cookbooks that I use that are helpful.

I do cold tofu salad with one of those Blue Dragon packets. Cube tofu, scatter coriander, chilli, spring onions, a bit of soya sauce. Heat veg oil with a bit of sesame oil till smoking, pour on tofu mix. Yum!

I've got some tofu recipes [[http://bessie26recipes.blogspot.com/search/label/tofu here]. Current favourite is the sweet ginger one

Starting with the marinated tofu sounds like a good plan, also try to find a good chinese restaurant which serves it as they should cook it really well & give you some inspiration!

Sorry, here

Tofu is excellent - very versatile.

Some useful recipes here: vegetarianrecipeclub.org.uk/

and on the Vegan Society website: www.vegansociety.com/lifestyle/food/recipes/

Am sure I read somewhere that many chinese restaurants deep fry tofu before they use it in stir frys, and thats what gives it that more chewy (?meaty) texture.

folly I asked the waitress at my favourite Chinese restaurant how they cooked it & they deep fried it first. I also discovered that her mum hand makes all the tofu for the restaurant!

I usually just shallow fry it, but have been experimenting recently with coating it with cornflour first (I just put the tofu & flour in a bag and shake) which can give it a bit of a crispy coat.

Good recipes here. Just wanted to add:

Soft and firm tofu have different uses due to texture. Its all a bit bland so the more herbs/spices/condiments the better for both versions.

Broadly speaking firm tofu is to be marinated, cubed and stir fried or grilled

Soft (silken) tofu is for tasty scrambles or sauces or simply blended to add protein to veggie soups or pasta sauces or cubed in clear broth.
Also lovely in creamy bakes.

Chocolate Pudding
Blend a block of silken tofu with a large bar of melted dark chocolate and a squeeze of honey. Put in ramikins in the fridge, top with raspberries & see how long you can wait before eating!

Thai coconut curry, tofu tikka masala,cocunt almond bars, creme brulee, any fruit quick bread and peanut buter cup are some of my favorite tofu recipes.

Let me know if you want any of the receipes.

I like making the tofu burgers from J Maizels "finger food" book:

Mash 120g tofu, place in bowl with 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce & marinate

Squeeze out excess liquid and add 1 smll carrot grated, 1 small garlic clove crushed, 1 slice bread as breadcrumbs, 1 finely chopped spring onion and 1 beaten egg

Shape into burgers, and leave in fridge to chill for 20 mins, before brushing with oil and grilling for 8-10 mins, turning frequently.

They are really yum and don't take too long.

upahill I would love those recipes!

fessa those burgers sound good, will be trying those out next week!

I eat loads of tofu; love it. Low fat, cholesterol free pure protein - you can almost feel it doing you good! Smoked tofu is yum, and I use it in anything from stir-fries to a rice dish with chickpeas, tomato, smoked paprika etc - spanish stylee.
My favourite tofu foodage at the moment is the breakfast tofu and banana thickie (like a thick smoothie). Using silken (soft) tofu, I put a good blob of this into my liquidiser along with a banana, a small handful of oats, skimmed milk to cover and a teaspoon of honey and blitz until smooth. It is SO yummy and makes an amazing instant breakfast that is healthy and keeps me going until lunchtime.

Ooo Fessa, bet those burgers would be great with smoked tofu...I'm going to try that next week!