Tofu Question

[scurryfunge]

I cook for a vegetarian lady four times a week and I’m trying to provide a varied menu for her. I’m cooking a tofu dish for her at the moment for tomorrow. It’s a Caribbean dish and looks scrummy.

Ive never cooked or eaten tofu myself and I’ve just used a supermarket carton. I drained it for an hour and it still looks a bit squishy. Is it supposed to firm up?

I intend to marinate it then fry it but am worried it will disintegrate in the pan.
Any tips please?

It sounds like you've got one of the softer ones and they do tend to fall apart a bit ...if you are able to get another sort then I would buy Cauldron or ToFoo (in the fridge section) as they are firmer and will hold up better

Tofu is basically a sponge. Whatever watery liquid you squeeze out will be replaced by flavoursome marinade, so it sounds like you're on the right path.

Have you pressed it? Wrap it up in a lot of kitchen towel and place something heavy on top for at least an hour and it'll be much firmer.

Have you bought silken tofu? That's much more wobbly than firmer tofu.

The PP have it right, it needs to be pressed to firm it up.

I drain then press between pieces of kitchen paper. Then cut up and bake in the oven until golden brown. Let it cool and then you can marinade as usual but it stays nice and firm.

Marinade and fry it or don’t bother

I buy an extra firm tofu, cut it into 1cm slices or larger cubes, place it in salted cold water for about 20 mins, dry it really really well by pressing it with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel, then fry it on a high heat.

The texture would always freak me out, but if I cook it like this I love it!

There are different levels of firm, check the packaging.

It won’t firm up if it’s the wrong kind.

Maybe you could try a different recipe with it this time, otherwise it will just fall apart when you cook it.

I usually make sundubu jjigae which is a Korean soup. Most of the ingredients are pretty common except gochu garu (like...Korean red chilli powder). It’s easy to make a vegetarian version.

Thanks everyone. It's the pressing of it that seems to be the key. Anyway, it did hold together mostly when I cooked it. I'll await the lady's feedback.

Well, she appeared to love it and ate the whole bowl. She has short term memory loss and doesn't always eat what I provide. I spoke to her son who states she doesn't always like tofu so I think this dish was a winner. I think I can add it to my repertoire of " likes".