Tofu help please!

  • I bought some extra firm tofu, and I am curious how you all cook it. I am not a big fan of adding a bunch of onions and mushrooms and stuff like that, I would more like it to be cut up and put on a salad or with rice or something, anything suggestions?
  • Tofu tastes best when marinated for at least a few hours. Then it can be diced and sauteed eaten with rice, veggies whatever. I like tofu teriyaki, or a marinade of soy sauce, garlic and ginger, and maybe some asian 5 spice seasoning.
    Hope this helps
    Amy
  • I second that advice. Tofu by itself is rather bland. It adds texture and nutrition rather than flavor. In addition to marinating it, you can just add it to stir fries, chili, lasagna, etc -- any dish that has good flavor already.
  • yes. marinade. Baking it and sauteing also good. It's awesome when it gets a little crunchy outer layer. Yum!!!
  • Here are a couple of tofu recipes from Cooking Light that I've made that came out fantastic:
    - Ground Turkey and Tofu
    - Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu with Snow Peas, Peanut Butter, and Mushrooms
    - Curried Tofu-Egg Salad Sandwiches

    I also like to make a Chinese-type salad with it:

    Chinese Cabbage Salad
    • 14 oz light tofu
    • 1 tsp olive oil
    • 1/3 cup slivered almonds
    • 1 lb cabbage, shredded or sliced very thinly
    • 16 oz chicken, cooked and shredded
    • 12 oz snap or snow peas, diced (you can blanche them in boiling water for a few minutes if you like them cooked slightly)
    • 1 cup edamame
    • 8 tbsp sesame dressing (I use Trader Joe's Sesame-Soy Vinaigrette, which is 35 calories per 2 tbsp. Newman's Own makes a similar dressing with the same caloric content).

    Slice tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place slices flat between paper towels, weight with a heavy skillet and let sit for several hours. Replace paper towels two or three times, as they get soaked with water from the tofu.

    Dice tofu into bite-size squares. Heat olive oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu and saute until just golden in color. Add almond slivers and saute until toasted (keep an eye on them, they won't take very long to toast and will go from toasted to burnt-to-a-crisp in a split second).

    Mix tofu, almonds, and remaining ingredients and serve.

    This makes four generous main-dish servings at about 375 calories each.
  • Yeah, tofu by itself is pretty digusting but it's basically a big sponge - soaks up whatever you put on it. I like to buy the extra firm cutlet style (House is the brand) and I like to add it to spicy stir fries. I guess, if I wanted it on salad, I would marinate it overnight in something yummy and then sear it on each side, then slice and put over salad. Maybe a spicy asian peanut dressing?
  • I'm generally not a tofu salad fan but love this recipe for Asian Tofu Salad, www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146240
    It's really yummy and would be good scooped on top of crisp vegetables.
  • I don't eat tofu very often but I've heard marinating and baking it will make it really good. You can also freeze it and thaw it to give it a firmer texture before baking. Then you could chop it up and add to a salad.
  • Oh, I am soooooo soooo soooo excited about the curried tofu-egg salad sandwiches. There is this place I go to lunch at with my Mom sometimes and they make curried egg salad sanwiches that are TO DIE FOR. Only problem is, just the sandwich is upwards (or over) 500 calories. Which is okay for a treat but it's not something I can have very often. I am going to try making this and see how it compares.

    I just bought some of the Sara Lee 45 cal/slice whole wheat bread which I am excited about because I have essentially cut out pretty much all bread since I started dieting.

    Aside from that, I didn't have time to marinate my tofu so I sauteed it with a splash of olive oil, and a TON of garlic, the flavor was nice but it was pretty mushy tasting. I think this may be just the texture of it in general. I will try freezing it and thawing and seeing if that helps. I also might try actually marinating it and baking it once the weather cools down.

    Has anyone ever tried BBQing it? I have no idea...

    I also found a couple recipes for pumpkin pie with tofu, has anyone tried anything like this? I want to, but I would skip the crust as it's fattening and I'm not a big fan of pie crust anyway. Here's a couple I found...

    http://www.recipezaar.com/78098

    http://www.recipezaar.com/101560
  • Not all tofu is created equal. There are three basic kinds of plain tofu that you can find here in the US, silken, regular, and nigari tofu.

    Silken is the kind you find in the shelf stable box, although it's sometimes found in tubs of water in the refrigerated section. Silken is more custard like and it good for soups, smoothies, pie fillings, salad dressings, or anything pureed. Mori-Nu makes a lite version too that is only 35 calories per serving.

    Regular tofu is what you'll mostly find in the tubs of water in the refrigerator section (unless it says silken.) It come is various degrees of firmness. This is Chinese style tofu and is good for scrambles and preparations where you are being gentle with it (simmering in a dish for example) or you don't mind it crumbling. Pressing this kind of tofu will help it hold it's shape, but I find that it's still not as firm as nigari tofu.

    Nigari tofu isn't marked as such. Look at the ingredients. It'll list nigari if that's what they use to coagulate the tofu. Nigari tofu comes in the refrigerated section, but is typically just vacuum sealed (not in water or a tub.) It is the most firm and holds up well in stir fries, on the BBQ, or is good marinated and eaten cold. This is the kind I use the most. It doesn't require pressing or freezing and holds it's shape. It can even be grated, mixed with veggies and some mayo and used as a sandwich spread. Nigari tofu is not mushy, it's more "meaty" in texture.

    You'll also see tofu "cutlets" that are pre-marinated and fried. This kind of tofu is quite firm as well.

    My favorite marinade for tofu is a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, a bit of sesame oil, chopped garlic, chili flake, and a touch of honey. I let the tofu marinade at room temp for at least 30 mins or for several hours in the fridge. Then I either eat it cold, or broil it until it's nice and crispy.
  • If you want really really firm tofu, I would highly recommend House brand cutlet-style tofu - it has 100 calories a serving. I used to find it only in Asian grocery stores, but now my local grocery store carries it as well. Not mushy - AT ALL.

    http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutriti...se/tofu-cutlet

    It's in a brown and orange package! (sorry, can't seem to find a picture online)

    I like firm tofu and I'm WAY too lazy to freeze it or smush it or bake it or any that stuff. I want to slice the package and go.