SoulSurvivor - Tofu can be meaty but for the most part it is mostly egg like. Baking tofu makes it meaty as well as freezing it and cooking it makes it meaty.
Quorn is pricier and not as accessible as tofu. If someone wants something truly meaty, I'd recommend seitan as it is also cheaper if you make it yourself.
I freeze it, then thaw it, then smoosh the water out, then cook it. It makes it (imo) have a much better consistency. It thaws pretty quickly, too.
I bring it home, portion it, then freeze it. When I'm going to use it, I plop it in the fridge in the morning, and by the time I get to it it's all thawed. The smooshing takes 10-20 minutes, depending on how dry you want it and how heavy the pan sitting on it is.
Yup. Basically open the package, drain the tofu, put it in another container. Freeze, unfreeze, then cut in slices or chunks, depending on how you want to use it. You might also want to squeeze some of the water out before or even after freezing. You can do so in your hands.
Of course this is dependant on you getting the firm/extra firm tofu in the refrigerated section. Soft or even asceptic (shelf stable) tofu is a bit different.
On a completely unrelated note, this thread makes me happy. There aren't a lot of threads lately that I've felt like I had anything productive to add, but I seem to know a fair amount about tofu!
You could also look into TVP
I use it in spagetti sauce, chilli anything that you need ground meats for like meatballs. I cant remember where I found some good recipe sites. But there are tons of them. And its cheep and goes along way. You could call the commissionary to get the prices and brand names they carry.
Nelie and I shared a plate of wicked good 'hot tofu wings' in Asheville last year. YUM! They were basically pressed out tofu strips, marinated in wing sauce and um... cooked in an unhealthy manner.
A restaurant in my town that is famous for their marinated tofu burgers (and we are not a vegetarian friendly town) is that he does the freeze technique, but he marinates in his sesame ginger dressing asically just an oil/vinegar dressing) before he freezes it. So then when he thaws and presses out, the marinade is already deep inside.
Also, like somebody said before, tofu can be watery. But if you press it out, you've compressed it and it's now much more dense. If you leave it loose and spongy, it's going to soak up any liquid or oil that you have in the pan. And it will still be soft. Some people like it soft, but not me.
When I press my tofu, I put the block in a colander, put a bowl on that, and then a large can on that and let it press for about 20-30 minutes. I flip it half way. You can also wrap it in cheesecloth or a clean, lint free towel (like a bar towel) and press it that way.
I'd suggest picking a recipe that you've read people have tried and really like, and then experiment from there.
i love tofu. it truly is so versatile, i use it in alot of stir frys, and just add some broth of beef or veggies or chicken, toss it with some brown rice and veggies and the kids and i eat it up. we use silken tofu in shakes, extra firm for stir frys, i also grill it, lightly brushing it with olive oil and seasoning it with what i would normally season meat with, putting just a dab or 2 of bbq sauce on it, slap it into a flat out wrap like i would shredded chicken bbq.
