Tofu failure - help please.

[MrsAvocet]

I hope nobody minds me posting here. I am not vegan but am trying to reduce our family's meat consumption for both health and environmental reasons. My DS is allergic to dairy and eggs so my non meat meals need to be plant based and I reckoned the posters on this board will be most knowledgeable on the subject.
I have a few plant based recipes that I've done for years but want to extend my repetoire. I've had tofu in restaurants and at other people's houses and enjoyed it but never cooked it myself so I thought I would give it a go.
Tonight I tried it in a stir fry. I used exactly the same recipe and technique as I would have done using chicken, but with cubes of tofu instead. Or so I hoped. What I ended up with was more like rather tasteless sweet and sour scrambled eggs It didn't go down well with family I'm afraid.
I bought the tofu in a block - i think it said silken tofu - and when I cut it up it stayed in fairly solid blocks. However, as soon as I started frying it it crumbled into very small pieces. What did I do wrong? Do I need to coat it in flour or something before I fry it?
If anyone can advice on where I went wrong I'd be grateful. Also if you can suggest any tried and tested tofu recipes it would be great. I would really like to introduce more meat free meals into our diet but DS's allergies make it quite difficult. He is also allergic to all tree nuts and peanuts and has reacted to some beans and pulses in the past. Since our non meat protein sources are a bit limited I am really keen to try to win the family over to tofu, but so far I'm failing miserably. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

You need to be using firm tofu.
The basic trick is first drying it, dicing it into chunks and baking it at a high temperature to brown it and create a tougher texture, and then letting it set out to dry even more. This gives it a meat-like texture, if you will, that makes it much more porous to soak up delicious sauces and far more appetising in the texture department.
I dry tofu between a few layers of paper towels and with something heavy to weigh it down, for about 15-20 mins. You may want to change the paper towels once or twice if they have absorbed a lot of liquid.
When you actually come stir fry, add the tofu to a hot, oiled wok/pan and let it sear for a minute. Then stir-fry the tofu gently for another minute or so.
Some crumble is normal and expected.

www.wellplated.com/tofu-stir-fry/

If you scroll down this helps with types of tofu

I'm learning how to cook with tofu. You definitely need firm tofu, and pressing it really helps to firm it up more!

Yes to firm tofu, but the thing that made the difference for me was using way more oil than I would for anything else! I use a frying pan with a decent 5-6mm layer of oil and fry the shit out of it!

Thanks all. I will have another go and see if I can produce something a bit more appetising.

Definitely press your tofu or otherwise you can take it out of its packaging, put it in a Tupperware then freeze it and defrost it. (Helps with the texture, don't ask me why!)
Or you can skip all that if you buy tofoo brand. It's expensive but worth it in my opinion. You can just use that straight from the packet.

I always marinade my tofu. Chop it into cubes, put it in a bowl with soy sauce, sesame oil (at least) and any combo you fancy of lime/lemon juice, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic etc etc. I often bake mine in the oven, or I fry it in a bit more oil. You can coat in gram flour if you fancy.

What they all said, with a specific recommendation for the tofoo brand ☺️ it's in most supermarkets & magic

The Tofoo brand is my favourite, it's so good you can just add it straight to your cooking. Cauldron firm tofu is good too, press it then cut it into cubes, season it and add oil, and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes. Makes it yummy and crispy. You'll get best results if you marinade it over night first. Don't bother trying to do tofu in a pan it just sticks and falls apart (or maybe it's just my pans?) . Silken tofu isn't good for much in my opinion, but I do use it in a vegan quiche recipe sometimes (you can find the recipe on the vegan society website), or for thickening sauces. I have also been known to hide it in my protein averse toddlers porridge haha. But definitely don't try using it for anything where you want it to hold it's shape.

I agree with tofoo, you don't need to squash all the liquid out, just drain the liquid from the pack and get cooking. I never buy anything else now.

Silken tofu I've only seen in recipes for things like cheesecake.