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Tofu for beginners - UPDATE - Surprising fan of tofu


Pegasus
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DD17 eats very little meat. I don't know how she ended up in this meat-loving family!  She's tried tofu a couple of times in restaurants and liked it but we've never tried fixing it at home.

 

Any tips?  Where can we find it at the grocery store?  What are your favorite ways to prepare it?

Edited by Pegasus
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We eat it chiefly two ways. The first is in pasta salad. I cut it into cubes, then marinate in Italian dressing. It has the texture of cheese, I would say (not exactly, but pleasant). My kids love and request this.

 

The second is fried. I use this recipe. This lists out an entire (beloved) restaurant meal for us, but I sometimes just make the tofu.

 

https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/the-grit-restaurant-golden-bowl/163272

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Are you looking to incorporate it into your regular recipes or are you looking for new recipes entirely?

 

Tofu has all sorts of textures and applications. Try making miso soup with silken tofu cubes at home. Since your dd is old enough she could try making it herself. If you make it a bit less salty you could add udon noodles and some baby spinach for a meal.

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Easiest is baked, marinated tofu. Cut a block of tofu into cubes, then put in a baking pan (I like to use a glass 9x12). Mix up your marinade and pour it over the tofu. Let it sit for awhile (an hour?) or bake it right away if you are in a hurry. Then bake at 375 until most of the marinade has been absorbed and the pieces are browned. We like them pretty well done, so I bake them about 45 minutes.

 

Serve with brown rice and stir-fried veggies. They keep for several days and are great to add to salad.

 

This is an Asian marinade from Isa Chandra Moskovitz:

 

1/2 cup mirin

3 T soy sauce

2 T. rice vinegar

1 T. sesame oil

2 t. chili sauce (sriracha)

1T. minced ginger

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

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I make the fried tofu from Budget Bytes a lot. https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/02/pan-fried-sesame-tofu-with-broccoli/

 

The linked recipe is our favorite but she has lots of other variations with different sauces/flavors. 

 

I made this one of hers last week and everyone liked it.  https://www.budgetbytes.com/2017/12/soy-marinated-tofu-bowls-spicy-peanut-sauce/

 

My middle son is a vegetarian and sometimes if we are having meat we just take tofu for him and slice it and then pan fry it just by itself in a little oil. He then seasons it himself with some kind of sauce. (BBQ, hoisin, orange, soy sauce, various seasonings, etc).  

 

Buy the extra firm. It’s better if you have time to press it to get rid of the water, but it works without doing that. For the kind where you coat it and fry it you really have to press it to get it to work well, but that’s easy. The linked recipes have steps to walk you through that. 

 

I find it in our produce section. 

 

 

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Are you looking to incorporate it into your regular recipes or are you looking for new recipes entirely?

 

Tofu has all sorts of textures and applications. Try making miso soup with silken tofu cubes at home. Since your dd is old enough she could try making it herself. If you make it a bit less salty you could add udon noodles and some baby spinach for a meal.

 

Mostly looking for new recipes. DD can definitely try making the dishes herself.  She'd like some more variety in her diet than just eating our "sides" when our entrees have meat.   :closedeyes:

 

She will eat a few bites of chicken and enjoys salmon but no beef or pork.  She's getting bored eating the same things over and over.

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I make the fried tofu from Budget Bytes a lot. https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/02/pan-fried-sesame-tofu-with-broccoli/

 

The linked recipe is our favorite but she has lots of other variations with different sauces/flavors.

 

I made this one of hers last week and everyone liked it. https://www.budgetbytes.com/2017/12/soy-marinated-tofu-bowls-spicy-peanut-sauce/

 

My middle son is a vegetarian and sometimes if we are having meat we just take tofu for him and slice it and then pan fry it just by itself in a little oil. He then seasons it himself with some kind of sauce. (BBQ, hoisin, orange, soy sauce, various seasonings, etc).

 

Buy the extra firm. It’s better if you have time to press it to get rid of the water, but it works without doing that. For the kind where you coat it and fry it you really have to press it to get it to work well, but that’s easy. The linked recipes have steps to walk you through that.

 

I find it in our produce section.

We also like to sauté extra firm tofu. I cut it so as to have three thinner slices, rather than one thick block. , then cut those slices in half. Dust with cornstarch and sauté in oil. I may add soy sauce at the end or toasted sesame oil. Put on plates, sprinkle generously with sesame seeds, and add TJ gyozo sauce or similar to taste. The cornstarch and sesame seeds give the tofu so crunch, so it feels more substantial.

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I like sauteeing or baking the extra firm. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they sell a baked, marinated tofu that's delicious. They have a teriyaki and a siracha version. 

 

You can also crumble it up, either with a fork or potato masher or just with your hands and cook up the crumbles. I'll sometimes make a "scrambled tofu" breakfast type thing with breakfast potatoes and sometimes veggie sausage links. 

 

Also, if she is interested in trying meat substitutes, Gardein makes delicious stuff. Their "chicken" and ground beef crumbles are our favorites. 

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Tofu scramble: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/tofu-scramble
We try to have variations of tofu scramble pre cooked in the fridge all the time. You can put it in a wrap, serve it by a salad etc. 

Tofu tzatziki: http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/vegan-tzatziki-239629 (serve with vegan falafel. Yves makes them if you don't want to make your own) 

tofu comes extra firm, firm, silken and soft. But confusingly, the terms sometimes change and companies use their own variations of the terms. If you want something more 'meaty', then use extra firm & you press it. I use cans of beans. Then slice into strips and use in a sauce or recipes like you would sliced or shredded chicken. 

For a special treat we slice extra firm tofu, pan fry it, top it with a slice of daiya cheddar, a slice Yves ham and put it in an English muffin & have a faux egg mcmuffin. 

There are also prepared tofus which are smoked or flavoured - I have sriracha smoked tofu in the fridge right now. You can have it on salads, in wraps, or in a sandwich.  

You can also use it in a curry instead of paneer cubes.  

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  • 1 month later...

The tofu has been a big hit not only with the DD I had in mind, but also my meat-loving, don't-like-trying-new-things DD!  I'm stunned!

 

So, we went with the extra firm tofu recommendation and followed the tips about having to dry/press it first.  The first time, just experimenting, we didn't flavor it.  Ummm. . .it was consumed but not enjoyed. ha!  Since then, we've been trying different marinades - whatever we find that sounds good.  What a difference. 

 

Still trying recipes but here's the current favorite:

 

1/4 cup orange juice

1 clove or 1/8 t powdered garlic

1 T soy sauce

1 t sesame oil

1 T rice vinegar

1 T brown sugar

1/8 t orange extract

a little fresh ginger

orange/clementine zest

 

Caution: with the juice, zest, and extract, this results in a powerful orange flavor. 

 

Marinated, dried, and dusted with a little corn meal then sauteed in some olive oil.

 

How long do YOU keep open tofu in the fridge?  The package says to use within 4 days but we've stretched that by a few days without repercussions.

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If it isn't open I'm not concerned about keeping it over. If I'm not going to use it "soon" though, I take it out if the package and freeze it.

 

You can freeze it?!?  That will be SO helpful.  Otherwise, DD needs to eat it every day to consume it within the suggested timeframe once open.

 

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I either eat it cold, straight, dipped in soy sauce, or fried in ghee the same way. I like meat, and I like tofu. They’re different and both delicious :)

 

I'm sure this is a dumb question but here it goes.  Is it edible straight out of the package?  I assumed it was a raw product and needed cooking first.

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I'm sure this is a dumb question but here it goes.  Is it edible straight out of the package?  I assumed it was a raw product and needed cooking first.

 

 

Yes. No need to cook it. It’s already been cooked. Think of tofu as a soymilk “cheese†in that it’s related to soymilk in a similar way that cheese is related to milk. You can cook it, but you do not have to.

 

I really like super firm tofu for just about everything. This past weekend I mashed it up and made “egg†salad for sandwiches. No cooking necessary.

 

 

I THINK I remember that freezing and thawing gives it a more chewy, meaty texture.

Correct. The Easy Vegan on YouTube has a recipe for tofu bacon where he leverages this texture change. Dh often smokes tofu on the grill is large quantities and then we package it up and freeze it to use for pizza or tortilla soup or really anything that needs smoked tofu. :D The texture definitely changes, but it’s still amazing.

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You can freeze it?!? That will be SO helpful. Otherwise, DD needs to eat it every day to consume it within the suggested timeframe once open.

 

I drain the liquid from tofu, chop it into cubes for using in recipes and freeze the cubes that I don’t want immediately. I add tofu to stir fries, pasta, curries, fried rice etc. My trick is to marinate the tofu in the sauce for the dish that I am making for as long as possible and use it in the dish. This usually makes the tofu blend in with the dish.

I recently thought of a new way to use tofu in pasta - marinate tofu cubes in pesto sauce overnight in the fridge and bake it for a short while and add it to pasta dish - it was delicious!

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My personal favorite is to press some extra firm tofu (I like the texture better once it’s been pressed, but that’s just a personal preference, not a necessity), then cut it into chunks, sauté it, and add to a curry. Hornblower’s tofu scramble recipe is also delicious!

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