Tofu

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MissB0949
MissB0949 Posts: 142 Member
in Recipes
Have a block of extra-firm tofu in the fridge. I've never cooked it before but am thinking of baking it with a bbq sauce glaze. Any tofu experts here with other suggestions?

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  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
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    Im a Tofu newbie, but made it last night with a veggie and shrimp stir fry. It takes on the flavors you make with it. Its not bad, has a different texture. The rest of the block I have ll make another stir fry and use a low sodium soy sauce.
  • laitae
    laitae Posts: 50
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    I also like it in a stir fry with noodles:)
  • Lacerulean
    Lacerulean Posts: 4
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    Love tofu. Soft ones make good soup. Firm ones make stir fried, even fried them up is good (sorry, it is bad for your health but it is yummy).
  • ashheart
    ashheart Posts: 17
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    I would suggest cutting it into 1 inch strips, laying them down on a paper towel, and lightly press. This way, it takes some of that weird tasting water out of it, and in my opinion, makes it taste sooo much better. I like to "fry" the strips before adding sauce as well. Use some fat free cooking spray or a splash of olive oil, trust me, it doesn't take much. After the tofu browns a bit, it gets a slightly nutty flavor, which goes good with most sauces in my experience. Good luck.
  • pimentelea
    pimentelea Posts: 1
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    I love pan frying my tofu first with a seltzer batter. Be sure to press your tofu for at least a half-hour.
    Make a batter with flour, baking soda, spice and club soda. Season with spices the pressed tofu then dip in the batter. Fry it in about half in inch of olive oil till golden brown on both sides. You can use this fried tofu to put any glazes on it (orange sauce, mushroom gravy, etc). I also season the pressed tofu with cinnamon and sugar before frying then after frying I glaze them with melted Earth Balance butter, cinnamon and sugar. Yum!
  • BrendarB
    BrendarB Posts: 2,770 Member
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    Cut it into 1/4 inch thickness, pan fry in mix of sesame oil and olive oil til golden brown on each side.

    for sauce:
    3 tbsp soy sauce
    1/2 tspn sesame oil
    red pepper flakes (to taste)
    thinly sliced jalapeno (if you don't want it spicy, use just the ends before you get to the ribs and seeds)
    thinly sliced scallions
    1 tbsp (or more) of rice vinegar

    this is subject to taste, if you want less soy, or more rice vinegar, go for it, you like it hot, add more jalapenos, you like garlic, crush one and put it in.
  • larose12
    larose12 Posts: 7
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    I cut the tofu into strips and then place in a ziploc with soy sauce, sriracha, minced garlic and ginger, mirin and rice wine vinegar. I let it sit overnight in the fridge and then dump all of it into a frying pan and cook it down over a low heat then add udon noodles and veggies like carrots and broccoli and it's really really good!
  • asalikin
    asalikin Posts: 19 Member
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    my favourite things to do with tofu (I always buy extra firm)
    1. cut into 1/2-1" cubes and marinade with: 3 tablespoons EVOO, 1 whole lemon's juice, lots of fresh garlic (5-6 cloves, I like garlic), fresh parsley, black pepper, and 1-3tsp low sodium soy sauce. Sometimes i add a tablespoon or so of balsamic vinegar too.
    I let it marinate over night, then often will eat it just cold with salad, or you can toss it into a stir fry (with any stir fry sauce you choose.)
    2. crumble it up and use it as a replacement for ground beef in any chili or spaghetti sauce recipe, its awesome. all the seasonings in the sauces get soaked up by the tofu.
    3. crumbled, makes a good filling for homemade wontons too, instead of pork... just add all the other ingredients in any recipe, I add an extra half teaspoon of soy sauce or oyster sauce when I use tofu.

    the possibilities of tofu are endless!!!
  • Lolamako
    Lolamako Posts: 89 Member
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    Totally second ASHHART's suggestion of pressing it. It will improve the texture a lot. I like it tossed with a bit of oil,salt, onion powder, garlic powder and nutritional yeast(not active and it is not the same as brewers yeast) and baked. It's kind of like breading it. So yummy with some sriracha!
  • MissB0949
    MissB0949 Posts: 142 Member
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    Thanks for the tips!
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Press your tofu first - wrap it in a clean kitchen towel, put it in a bowl or on a baking sheet, place something heavey on top for about half an hour. It can be good a lot of different ways, but marinating and baking is delicious - so much so that I rarely do it because I would then eat waaay too much tofu! Look up tofu marinades online, and baking tofu for accurate times. Yummy!

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