First time cooking Tofu tonight. Any tips?

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HStheBusyBee
HStheBusyBee Posts: 1,366 Member
in Recipes
I'm cooking silken tofu for the first time tonight and wondered if there was anything I should know before doing it! :)

For anyone that's interested, I'm doing vegan fried rice tonight.

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  • jodi3357
    jodi3357 Posts: 34 Member
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    Fry it with olive oil to make it crispy. I like it with onion and spinach.
  • finaleight
    finaleight Posts: 1 Member
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    Cut in to slices then lay out on a wad of paper towels/tea towels with space in between. Put more paper towels/clean tea towels on top, then a chopping board with heavy items (hard back books work well) to squeeze out all the moisture. Leave for 15 minutes. Fry slices in a pan.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Does your recipe call for silken tofu specifically? I usually reserve that for things like desserts and smoothies and use the firmer kind for things like fried rice.
  • HStheBusyBee
    HStheBusyBee Posts: 1,366 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Does your recipe call for silken tofu specifically? I usually reserve that for things like desserts and smoothies and use the firmer kind for things like fried rice.

    No it just said Tofu and this was the only one at Sainsburys near my house. Oh no, have I bought the wrong one?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    HStheBusyBee wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Does your recipe call for silken tofu specifically? I usually reserve that for things like desserts and smoothies and use the firmer kind for things like fried rice.

    No it just said Tofu and this was the only one at Sainsburys near my house. Oh no, have I bought the wrong one?

    I wouldn't say "wrong," it just might not give you the results that you want. Silken tofu is very, very soft. For things like stir-fry, baked tofu, or tofu scramble, you'll want firm tofu (the kind packed in water and found in the refrigerator section, not the kind in a vacuum-pack).
  • NaturalNancy
    NaturalNancy Posts: 1,093 Member
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    For stir frys, firm tofu I think is best... Silken tofu is really soft and slippery and will crumble but I would cut it into one inch slices and bake it for a few minutes or fry it to make it more firm, then cut it into cubes or strips and then add it to your rice.
    Season it also before frying or baking with salt, pepper and whatever seasonings you use.
    But if you don't mind if it crumbles then just add it with your stirfry (it is already cooked and tastes bland) so it will be extra protein if you don't mind.
    Agree with the post above, silken tofu is usually used for deserts and/ or smoothies because of the soft texture.
  • jbirdgreen
    jbirdgreen Posts: 569 Member
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    Vegetarian for many years -- Silken tofu is on the creamy soft side. I would liken it to a softer cheese. It isn't "meaty" and like the other commentors have mentioned, it is more used for a dairy substitute than a meat substitute. I would make a soup of out it to accompany the fried rice -- I have never used silken tofu for anything other than dessert. My cousin used to make a killer faux cheesecake out of it.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    You could stuff large pasta shells or manicotti shells with an Italian herbs flavored silken tofu then top with a good marinara and bake. I've used a regular recipe and changed the cheese to the tofu and it was good. I'd add a little more herbs than normal especially garlic if you like garlic of course.
  • HStheBusyBee
    HStheBusyBee Posts: 1,366 Member
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    Thank you for all the advice. I had firm silken tofu and the recipe called for baking and then frying so it was ok :)
    bwydot84vw01.jpeg
  • NaturalNancy
    NaturalNancy Posts: 1,093 Member
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    Looks delish!
    Wish I had that right now!
    :-D
  • Obnoxa
    Obnoxa Posts: 187 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Mmmm! Looks tasty!
    Side note, silken makes AWESOME faux scrambled eggs, mix in a little nutritional yeast, bit of mustard, dash of hot sauce/paprika/Cayenne, some salt and pepper and I like to add some spinach and/or mushrooms and, voila!
    Even my fussy 12 year old wolfs it down.
    Just in case you are looking for a new thing to do with it :)

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