Food Talk And Fabulous Finds - Tofu - How do you eat it?

I've recently discovered that I have a surprising fondness for tofu. I always thought I hated it but it turns out that I really like it. So I'm curious...do any of you eat tofu? If yes, how do you prepare it?

Trader Joe's sells baked tofu that I've just been slicing and eating plain (it's already seasoned). Last night I made a stir fry with sauteed tofu and veggies in a sauce of peanut butter and soy sauce. But I'm looking for preparations to try.

I've only ever eaten tofu from Panda Express, and I like it.

But I have no idea how to fix it up myself so that it's yummy and edible! (I tried to cook some up once.....disaster!!)

So, I'm eager to see some suggestions here. :)

It depends on the type of tofu. These are the two kinds I use the most:

Silken tofu (in the box)~ It's good in smoothies, cubed in soups, and "scrambled" in skillet dishes. It's also good for replacing fat in certain things, like creamy salad dressings. I make a lite goddess dressing that uses tofu.

Extra firm Japanese style tofu (with nigari)~ This stuff is super firm and won't crumble in stirfries. I also like to marinate it and eat it cold. You can also marinate it and grill it like meat. This is the kind that makes the best "meat substitute" in my opinion.

This is one of my favorite tofu recipes that I got out of Vegetarian Times magazine:

Honey-Glazed Tofu on Pumpkin Seed Couscous

1. To make Honey-Glazed Tofu: Place tofu between two plates and set heavy pot on top. Drain 10 minutes, and pat dry. Cut tofu into 3/8-inch-thick slices. Combine pepper, thyme, and salt in small bowl. Coat tofu slices with pepper mixture, and set aside.
2. To make Pumpkin Seed Couscous: Bring broth, carrots, edamame, olive oil, and salt to a boil in covered saucepan. Remove from heat, stir in couscous and cover. Let steam 5 minutes, then fluff with fork.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil and honey in large skillet over medium-high heat until bubbling. Place tofu in pan, and cook 3 minutes. Turn, and cook 3 minutes more, spooning thickening sauce over tofu.
4. To serve: Stir pumpkin seeds into couscous. Spoon onto plates, and top with Honey-Glazed Tofu.

The Vegetarian Times website has a lot of great other tofu recipes too.

In addition to all of the "traditional" ways to use tofu
This is great, but you have to experiment with different brands to find one that works well.

Extra firm - water packed. Freeze it. Then thaw it. It has a spongy, chewy texture. Tear it into bits. It can then be used in casseroles, stir fries, mixed with "sloppy joe" fixings, added to eggs, with pasta sauces, in fried rice, goulash, chili - basically anywhere that you would put ground meat. Just make sure you do season it to taste - it is really bland on its own. I'm particularly fond of recipes with tomato sauce and tofu.

tofu...you really don't eat it do you...wink

tofu...you really don't eat it do you...wink

Gary, Gary - you live in California for heaven's sake. Expand your horizons. A good veggie stir fry with tofu goes GREAT with a nice India Pale Ale :D

I love baked tofu! Soy Boy has a bunch of flavors. The smoked flavor is great in a sandwich or wrap with mustard, lettuce, tomato, sprouts, etc. Here's a summery recipe using the Caribbean flavor:


Baked Tofu Curry Salad

1 cup Brown rice, cooked 200
1 package (8 oz.) Caribbean baked tofu 400
1 cup (4 oz.) Grapes, halved 80
1/8 cup Dried cranberries 48
1/4 cup (1/2 oz.) Walnut pieces 92
1 cup Plain lowfat yogurt 125
2 tbsp. Lime juice 7
1 tbsp. Curry powder 20
3 tbsp. Green onions 8

4 servings (approx. 1 cup each) 245 cals

A couple of other things to do with plain extra firm tofu:

Pineapple teriyaki: brown the tofu, then add carrots, broccoli, red bell pepper, and diced pineapple. Add teriyaki sauce to taste (less is more!)

Here's (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Chick-Pea-Curry/Detail.aspx) a spinach curry with tofu, kind of like a low calorie palak paneer. I use cooking spray instead of oil, frozen chopped spinach instead of fresh, and kidney beans instead of chickpeas. I also leave out the onion. It's so easy to prepare this way and suits my preferences. I'm sure you can change it up any way you want.

I use the firm ones in the soup. Also if you like asian food, silken ones are very good with sauce:soy sauce, chopped up scallion, sesame oil, minced garlic. Boil the tofu without removing it from the case for just couple minutes or so. Pour the sauce on the tofu. And it's good to go! =)

I like the freezing method too. It gives it a really nice texture. I like that you can squeeze all the water out once it is all thawed and throw it into your stir fries so it can soak up all the lovely sauces you put in there. My favorite is a very simple stir fry with garlic, ginger, soy and the diced up tofu using the freezing method. Add a splash of chicken stock and some broccoli and I am good to go!

Gary, Gary - you live in California for heaven's sake. Expand your horizons. A good veggie stir fry with tofu goes GREAT with a nice India Pale Ale :D


:lol:...aw come on now C-D!...you have no idea how many times Angie has "hid" it in my food! ;)

but I didn't get a choice!...it was eat it or go hungry! :lol3:

:lol:...aw come on now C-D!...you have no idea how many times Angie has "hid" it in my food! ;)

but I didn't get a choice!...it was eat it or go hungry! :lol3:

my my my my my

Since you are being so truthful in how you got fat, do you think you can give that lovely lady on your arm some credit for "defatting" you? :lol:

My late husband used to slice the Japanese tofu into 1/2" slices, prick the slices, lightly drizzle soy, sprinkle fresh ginger and lightly saute. It was good. Then, after he died, for some reason, my tastebuds changed. Gee, you don't think there was anything mental going on there, do you?

I've finally started embracing tofu again.

I recently posted something about the flavored tofus I've seen in the market. Some are berry flavored.

I'd be interested in some responses to that one. I'm definitely trying some of the suggestions here.

My favorite way to eat tofu is in white miso soup with scallions and wakame - we eat that several times a week. I dice and freeze small portions of extra firm tofu and then just dump it into the hot soup (edit: and let it simmer on for a while). Yum!

For stir fries and wraps, I've actually come to prefer tempeh, especially three grain tempeh - it's both the texture and the nutty flavor for me, and it marinates very well. My tofu stir fries so far have never come out just right - either too bland or too crumbly - but then again I never tried anything but the plain kind. Maybe it's time to sample some baked and/or flavored varieties... mmmh...

One of my favorite breakfasts is a quarter block of tofu cubes, simmered in homemade de-fatted chicken or beef broth with a handful of bean sprouts, some green onion, and topped with some torn cilantro or parsley. Really filling. Don't just heat the tofu, let it simmer fairly briskly. It seems to puff up and get a really nice taste and texture. This is also an easy lunch or part of a dinner. Can also toss in some spinach or other green leaves.

I also like it in a mapo tofu prep served over shirataki noodles, or bean sprouts or .... The prep is to cook some lean lean turkey or pork (Farmer John markets a super lean coursely ground pork in my area) or even those soy crumbles. Then season with fermented black beans, lots of pepper (Szechuan if you have it), hot sauce of choice (I use a hot bean paste from Asian market), add cubed tofu (maybe 30% "meat" to 70% tofu) Add broth or water to get it saucy. Very quick and satisfying.

Nice ideas folks!

I like to get a really nice deep brown "fried" texture to firm tofu from time to time for stir fries. I rinse it, dry it, slice into about .5 inch x 1.5 planks and cook in a very good non-stick pan over medium high to high heat with about 1 T of olive oil. I cook the whole brick in just 1 T olive oil. Let the tofu get very brown on each side, keep turning it and letting it sit for awhile on the next side. It can take on a very nice crispy sort of texture after a bit. I usually drizzle some Tamari over it when it is good and crispy for extra flavor. I generally stir fry the veggies separately and top them with the crispy tofu.

Tamari sauce, green onions, bok choy & green beans are a favorite stir fry with this! :hun:

I made such good tofu on Friday. I sliced a thawed block of extra firm tofu in slices and brushed a little sesame oil mixed with liquid smoke on each, sprinkled them with chicken-style bouillon powder and fried them until golden brown and crispy on the outside. I used the slices like bacon except they were thicker. Just got to watch the amount of oil used when frying. The slices can be sliced in strips and used in salads or stir fries. So good...

I had tofu for the first time last week when I ordered chinese. I love General Tso's chicken and of course it's very bad for me. So a friend recommended the tofu that comes with the same sauce. I tried it and have to admit it wasn't bad. The problem was they just sliced it up into VERY large cubes, too big, in fact, and just dumped them in the sauce. Next time I'll ask for smaller pieces and maybe try it fried (even though I know it's worse that way)

I watched Martha Stewart this morning and they showed how to make your own tofu. IT is so easy. Alot easier than you think.

Teh only way I have ever eaten it was in smoothies.

Cubed extra firm tofu in stir fry with veggies, cashews and a little wheat free soy sauce is a favorite. I serve it with brown rice on the side.

The extra firm tofu can also be cubed and frozen. The freezing gives it a bit more texture, leaning more towards chicken texture. There are some great 'general tso tofu' recipes online that you can google and they are close to the chicken version. I have served it to hardcore meat eaters and they loved it.

I've crumbled the tofu and put it in a frying pan with homemade taco seasoning and it worked great in tacos and burritos too.

Meatballs are harder to make with the tofu. I can't eat wheat or anything with gluten, so I had to use rice crackers instead of the usual bread crumbs and they didn't do as good of a job. I added garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and and two eggs to the mixture and baked them in the oven. They were pretty good. I rarely measure, but the idea is similar to the meat version. I put them on top of a nice rice pasta and covered them with some homemade tomato sauce.

We eat tofu in smoothies, fried up in miso, in miso soup, and in various recipes. I've really enjoyed a number of recipes in the cookbook How It All Vegan. We've made maple tofu fruit dip, tofu banana pudding, and (the not so healthy but super yummy) tofu brownies. My kids have given full approval on everything so far!