Tofu help please

[grumiosmum]

I'd like to learn to cook with this properly.

I bought some firm silken tofu & thought I'd make a stir fry with it, but it was very soft and collapsed a lot in the pan. Tasted OK mixed with veggies & doused with soy sauce though.

Please tell me what nice things you make with tofu, and how you do it. And what kind to buy. It seems like a useful store cupboard staple.

I make deep fried tofu with salt, pepper and chilli. Make a batter out of some flour and water. Cut the tofu into cubes (needs draining for a long time) and mix with the batter until it's coated. Heat oil and deep fry tofu for about 5-7 minutes. Serve with fried onions and chillies and it's amazing.

Do you use silken Tofu for that? (Is there another kind?)

Silken tofu is soft for sauces/pies/blending. For eating use extra firm - cauldron are good for this.

you need to get the wster out if it, so with a tofu press or freeze it.

First take it out if the pack drain it, put pads if kitchen paper underneath it and on to and put a cutting board on top with something heavy.

leave it for 30 mins maybe more and a fair bit of water will have come out.

cut it into the chunk sizes you want then freeze it overnight

then defrost

dust with cornstarch

fry it bake

skip the cornstarch and grill

it's best if you make a marinade.

soy, toasted sesame oil, give spice, chilli whatever and marinade between the pressing and the freezing

Silken tofu is the wrong sort. Silken in my view is good for mousse type pudding-eg with cocoa powder or lemon plus lemon zest, and a tap honey.

Normally for savoury food you use a firm block tofu.

Thanks. I knew it was complicated. Supermarket only seemed to have silken?

Silken tofu is horrible! Our big Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s have a brand called Tofoo in the fresh section which is extra firm and delicious and doesn’t need pressing. If you can’t get that cauldron tofu is good but you need to press it to firm it up and get rid of some of the liquid.

Cauldron Tofu will be in the vegetarian chilled section if they have it, you can buy ready marinated stuff too. Lidl often have the properly firm tofu in as well (at least my local one does!)

Silken is good for scrambled Tofu, but don't be fooled into thinking it's like egg, it's really not! And it is better for sweet dishes, you can make great tortes with it, though this is my favourite Silken Tofu recipe, could eat it by the bucket load:
www.exceedinglyvegan.com/vegan-recipes/mains/vegan-egg-fried-rice

Yeah it's a bastard! 😂 but worth persevering!

The cauldron stuff cut into chunks already is good to use, and so is the nice flavoured stuff you can get in waitrose that's flavoured - smoked, sesame or pesto, I think.

When you're buying tofu, look for either already cut up (like cauldron) or shrink-wrapped (Like those waitrose ones) for easiest to handle. Next easiest is the stuff that comes in a plastic tray with a film lid - I've only occasionally seen that in some health food shops. This stuff needs draining and pressing, but isn't too bad. The absolute hardest to handle is the stuff that comes in a tetrapack carton! No matter how firm it promises to be on the outside and how long I drain and press it, it's a nightmare.

Silken tofu can be quite versatile but does need a fair bit of preparation. I made my own press by drilling lots of homes in two plastic chopping boards and use 4 g clamps.
The freezing changes the texture of it too.

One thing I do with it if I'm not prepared to put in the grunt work, us to let it dry out, cube it into cm sized cubes and dust it with nutritional yeast and slow low bake it. That way you don't cause it to break up when stir, shallow or deep frying it. Because it's fragile moving it about causes it to break up, hence the baking. Consider it to be like a home made non meat fridge raider

Thanks, loads of good advice.

Yeah, I bought the tetrapak stuff!

I also agree firm tofu is easier in savoury dishes. Although firm silken would work in Miso Soup.
I bought a tofu press from tofuture. They have some lovely recipies and ideas for Tofu Marinades.
www.tofuture.com/recipes/
I've tried Tofu in Japan and it's so delicious there.
I buy fresh Tofu from Japanese stores here when I get the chance.

I buy cauldron tofu and follow this method - it's lovely :)

minimalistbaker.com/tofu-that-tastes-good-stir-fry/

this is my favorite way to prepare tofu, always I use extra firm.
www.cookclickndevour.com/tofu-stir-fry/