Help me like tofu!

[cushioncovers]

I know as a newish vegan I should be including it into my diet but I've tried it several times and I don't like it. What can I do at home to make it tasty and edible?

Do you freeze it before you press it? That gets more water out

Press it - put it on a plate, with a plate on top and then heavy things above it. Leave it for an hour or so.
Then after you cut it up, marinade it - so that its covered in a sauce. My basic one is soy sauce, chili powder and maple syrup.
Then cook it in a frying pan/oven until its crispy, if you're adding veggies to the pan, wait until the tofu is crisp. It won't overcoook once more things are in.

After all of the above (pressing and marinating) toss it in corn flour before stir frying. Gives it a lovely crispy coat. That said- I like it

I buy the naked tofu brand which seems firmer than the cauldron brand. I press it in a clean tea towel then cut it up into small cubes. I put it in a box with salt, cornflour, Chinese five spice and garlic powder and shake it so that they are all evenly coated then fry it separately from the rest of the stir fry and it goes nice and crispy.
My favourite way to serve tofu at the moment is to toss cubes of aubergine and red peppers and sliced spring onions in some oil and roast them till they are nicely browned, then mix in the tofu, cooked as above and some good black bean sauce, serve with noodles or rice.

lovingitvegan.com/tofu-scramble/

Delicious and easy to play around with spices. Very versatile with what you can eat it with.

Ah ok so pressing the water out of it seems to be the thing to do.

Fuschia Dunlop has some great tofu recipes - try her vegan Ma Po tofu or Homestyle Tofu.

You might also like silken tofu doused with ginger syrup (you can use syrup from a stem ginger jar). It's a delicious pudding imo.

Have you tried Tofoo, from the chilled section? About £2-3. Think there are at least three different flavours, personally prefer plain but they're all nice enough. The reason I buy this over any other brand is that it doesn't need any prep like pressing (very lazy!).

Thanks for all the tips. I will put it on my shopping list and try again.

You need to buy the hard (some brands call it firm) or extra hard tofu. Wrap it in kitchen paper and put your flat hand and push to squeeze the water.
I marinate it with - for a typical 500gr bloc : in a rectangular container put 6 table spoons of soy sauce , 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 very large teaspoon of miso paste. Mix well. Slice the tofu in slices of a bit less than 1 cm and lay flat in the mixture. Move the container to side to side when finished to spread the mixture between the slices.

I do tofu fingers in the oven and all my guests always love it.
In a food processor, put 1 cup of almonds, 2 tbl smocked paprika , 1 tbl garlic powder, a but of mixed herbs. Blend until crumbled.
cut the tofu slices in finger (life fish stick) . Put the almonds in a plate and pass the tofu in the mixture, turning it around so evenly coated.
Put baking paper on an oven tray, put the fingers one next to each other and bake for roughly 20 min, tuning on eve midway through.

This all sounds lovely. Thanks

I buy firm tofu, I like the smoked with seeds for cooking - slice or cube add to curries and stir fries. I also use it sliced - works well with the basil-flavoured one too - in sandwiches with tomatoes, spinach and garlic dressing.

For a really easy, tasty version my DD coats her tofu slices in fajita seasoning and pan fries them. She uses the firm, no press kind.

Might also be worth splashing out on trying some ready marinaded tofu - the Cauldron marinated tofu pieces are very tasty, and you can add them to a stir fry etc or bowl of ramen easily.

Freezing it helps remove water but also changes the texture a bit: all those little ice crystals basically make the texture more spongy, which makes it perfect for soaking up a really tasty sauce. I like using it for a Thai curry where it can sit and simmer in the curry sauce & coconut milk. (I use plain tofu for that rather than the ready marinaded stuff, because the sauce itself will totally swamp the flavour of the marinade so there's no point.)

Fried Tofu is the best!

If you can get to a Chinese supermarket I'd recommend trying tofu from there. You might like it better as I think they have more taste and a nicer, jelly-like texture (even for the firm type). They are packed in tubs filled with lots of water and have a shorter use by date. Closest you'd get to freshly made/homemade tofu.

Definitely try the tofoo brand, it’s much firmer than other brands and delicious in stir fry’s or fajitas.

I’ve been vegan forever and the only place I will eat (some) tofu is Japan. Not helpful I know.

I'm a committed flesh eater & I quite like tofu. Even plain, but with a simple sauce is great, too Too bad it doesn't have any iron in it.
Have you got firm tofu? I can't warm to the soft tofu, but firm is good. DH likes it fried with onions.

I dont know what the brand is but Waitrose do a lovely basil tofu in the chilled section. Tastes pesto-like and is really good.

Ooh these all sound delicious thank you

Have you tried cauldron marinaded tofu pieces? They're already made so you just have to add them to the frying pan for like ten minutes instead of having to press them and all that jazz. I find it really hard to make tofu nice if I just buy a watery block of it, but the ready made pieces are awesome. I think baking/deep frying can make the blocks nicer.

Haven't read the whole thread, but tofu katsu curry is amazingly tasty. Once you squeeze all the water out, cut into cubes, coat in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs (golden variety, with added cayenne pepper for a bit of kick) and deep fried. Add it to katsu sauce and serve with rice.

Oh forgot to mention, I use Nakd tofu (firm one).

My favourite thing to do with tofu at the moment is to marinade it in some hoisin sauce, sweet chilli sauce, sesame oil and ginger. The roast in the oven. I warm up the left over marinade to make a sauce and serve in lettuce leaves with chilli and spring onions on the top. I also serve with rice