How do you like your Tofu?

starmanbrand

Title says it all. I eat mostly extra firm tofu because it is cheap and simple to do whatever with. However, I'm in a cooking rut. I either make a quick stirfry or eat out. I never did much experimenting with tofu so instead of googling tofu recipes I come to you, H/A.

I'm a culinary school graduate so I can cook whatever...BUT I'm also a student with a ton of hw and classes that get me home at 5:30 and hungry, so the quicker the recipe the better. Two restrictions: No crockpotting or Alton Brown videos.

My current tofu dish is a stirfry of: tofu, garlic, onion, bell pepper, broccoli, carrot, noodles or rice, and chili garlic sambal.

Chen

Depends on the freshness. The longer you keep it in the refrigerator the sourer and nastier it gets.

What I do when it's not completely fresh is I cut it in slices and pan fry both sides a few minutes until they're golden brown. Add garlic, bean sauce, spring onion, chili pepper, soy sauce, salt. For meat, go with roasted pork. You can buy them in oriental food stores. It's pretty easy. Put the whole thing in a pan and fry the skin, then cut in slices and add to the tofu. Alternatively, shrimps.

With fresh tofu, I cut them in cubes and stir fry them with garlic, spring onion, shiitake mushrooms and meat.

I never buy the extra firm kind though. It may fall apart at the slightest touch, but I like my tofu soft and smooth.

s_86

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Quid

Oh man. Mapo Doufu.

http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/mapo-doufu-mapo-tofu

That particular recipe includes pork but meat isn't necessary in my experience. I've also only had it in restaurants so can't vouch for that particular recipe either. Very tasty spicy dish.

radroadkill

www.vegetariantimes.com

So many recipes involving tofu I can't even list them.

BBQ, grilled, fried, sauteed... and more.

I'm not a tofu fan but I've got a backlog of their recipes to try as I attempt to come around to it.

Also, I'm a vegetarian so I use their recipes all the time and have had good experiences.

virgilsamms

Miso soup - simple and delicious, should be able to get miso and dashi powder (kind of bonito stock) from a japanese or asian food store.

http://japanesefood.about.com/od/misosoup/r/misosouptofu.htm

Hokutosei

Wow, ok.... I am surprised nobody has mentioned that tofu has plentiful sweet applications as well.

A favorite sweet app I have for tofu is using silken (soft) tofu, spoon it into a blender. Then add melted chocolate, and honey. You can add extract if you like. Then take the filling and then it has many uses. You can put it into a pie crust and chill til firm then you got pie. You can pipe it into a canole like thing. You can freeze it to make a non-dairy popsicle. Or hell, you can just eat it as a sweet yet tangy, non-dairy chocolate pudding.

Joe Chemo

Might want to mix it up with tempeh or seitan to get some variety, as well.

Sheep

I give you Mr. Brown's recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/fillet-ofu-recipe/index.html

Steel Angel

Quick question: Are you vegetarian? While Tofu seems to have caught on a lot with vegetarians in the West, the bulk of dishes I know using it in Asian recipes use it alongside meat and fish. Case in point, the mapo tofu linked above which everyone I know seems to like.

starmanbrand

I'm not a vegetarian, but I probably wont be buying meat in addition to tofu. I would, however, make that good lookin' mapo tofu sans pork. And hopefully I can find ingredients for miso soup without too much trouble.

Really, I have a huge courseload and by the time its time to eat I don't want to put too much time into it. Tofu is great because I barely have to cook it and most of the things you pair with it.

Also I've never really considered a tofu sandwich, but that alton brown recipe linked me to a Parmesan tofu sandwich. I will think on this.

Scalfin

I've found that pickles are good in stirfry, although you have to add them afterward because the vinegar dissolves the oil coating the pan.

Druhim

starmanbrand wrote: »

I'm not a vegetarian, but I probably wont be buying meat in addition to tofu. I would, however, make that good lookin' mapo tofu sans pork. And hopefully I can find ingredients for miso soup without too much trouble.

Really, I have a huge courseload and by the time its time to eat I don't want to put too much time into it. Tofu is great because I barely have to cook it and most of the things you pair with it.

Also I've never really considered a tofu sandwich, but that alton brown recipe linked me to a Parmesan tofu sandwich. I will think on this.

miso soup is really easy
just by some dried dashi stock (you can get vegetarian dashi which is made with the kelp but no bonito if you wish)
and buy some miso paste (darker pastes are basically saltier, so you might want to start with white miso and then experiment with red miso later)
then you just heat up some water and add the appropriate amount of dashi stock, then add the appropriate amount of miso paste
the rest is basically just adding the garnishes you want such as fresh tofu, fried tofu, sliced scallions are almost always included, I like to add wood ear mushrooms for crunch

and with my miso broth, I toss in some udon noodles for a meal instead of just some broth

darkmayo

My ex use to make an awesome Scrambled Tofu dish.

I'll try to remember what goes in it.

Firm Tofu,
Mushrooms
red pepper
celery
onions (if you like em)
Bragg Liquid Aminos (like soy sauce cept not)
Nutritional Yeast
cooking spray

I use a cast iron skillet for this one,
Chopp/Slice the veggies, throw them in the skillet with the spray, do what you normally do with veg, then you toss in the tofu along with a few blasts of braggs (or soy sauce up to you) Let the liquid get absorbed by the tofu and when things look like they are good to go, dump in the nutrional yeast (I forget how much but enough to give the tofu a nice yellow color. , stir it around then eat.

I dont remember exact numbers you can pretty much adlib alot of it, good for breakfast and its fast.


(Miso soup as mentioned above is stupid easy to make, Hon Dashi Granuals are awesome hand quick so you dont end up having to make a Dashi from bonito flakes or Kombu. I tend to put cooked salmon in mine as well (I cook the salmon in a bit of the broth and then put it on top of the soup, normally I use Udon noodles but Ramen noodles work fine as well. )

Arch

Druhim wrote: »

starmanbrand wrote: »

I'm not a vegetarian, but I probably wont be buying meat in addition to tofu. I would, however, make that good lookin' mapo tofu sans pork. And hopefully I can find ingredients for miso soup without too much trouble.

Really, I have a huge courseload and by the time its time to eat I don't want to put too much time into it. Tofu is great because I barely have to cook it and most of the things you pair with it.

Also I've never really considered a tofu sandwich, but that alton brown recipe linked me to a Parmesan tofu sandwich. I will think on this.

miso soup is really easy
just by some dried dashi stock (you can get vegetarian dashi which is made with the kelp but no bonito if you wish)
and buy some miso paste (darker pastes are basically saltier, so you might want to start with white miso and then experiment with red miso later)
then you just heat up some water and add the appropriate amount of dashi stock, then add the appropriate amount of miso paste
the rest is basically just adding the garnishes you want such as fresh tofu, fried tofu, sliced scallions are almost always included, I like to add wood ear mushrooms for crunch

and with my miso broth, I toss in some udon noodles for a meal instead of just some broth

this is a meal i eat at least once a week at home

I make my dashi at home by simmering shittake mushrooms in spices for a bit

Dangerbird

Quid wrote: »

Oh man. Mapo Doufu.

http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/mapo-doufu-mapo-tofu

That particular recipe includes pork but meat isn't necessary in my experience. I've also only had it in restaurants so can't vouch for that particular recipe either. Very tasty spicy dish.

THIS.

My favorite way to eat tofu. Theres something special about the combination of sesame oil and hot chili sauce.

zagi

I prefer silken tofu over firm. I love it in miso soup, with either wakame (er, kelp, seaweed, w/e), chinese cabbage, or bean sprouts. It also takes good hot, boiled in some water, drain, add grated ginger, green onions, & soy sauce.

I only use firm tofu when I cook up some hot & sour, because there's a bunch of other things I add, I run the danger of breaking up silken tofu. Er, wait, I use it in sukiyaki too (same reason).

Steel Angel

Dangerbird wrote: »

Quid wrote: »

Oh man. Mapo Doufu.

http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/mapo-doufu-mapo-tofu

That particular recipe includes pork but meat isn't necessary in my experience. I've also only had it in restaurants so can't vouch for that particular recipe either. Very tasty spicy dish.

THIS.

My favorite way to eat tofu. Theres something special about the combination of sesame oil and hot chili sauce.

Be aware that Mapo Tofu can smell pretty bad when cooking. Don't let that deter you from eating the finished product.

TheGreat2nd

best tofu dish ever
http://highoverhappy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tau-pok-stuffed-fried-tofu-with-rojak.html