Tofu

[Martin109]

OK, so I've got the tofu... but, what to do with it now?   Culinary suggestions only, please!

[border-rider]

Stir-fry is always good (as long as it's firm tofu not silken)

Or inna black bean sauce with a green vegetable of your choice

Or inna tomato sauce with noodles

Or onna kebab

Fine stuff.

[Polar Bear]

Id go stir fry too.   virtually any veg you like and egg noodles.  Yummy.

Don't forget the mustard seeds and a dab of chili pepper for zing or coconut milk for sweetness.

I'm hungry now.   

[Pete]

SWEET AND SOUR TOFU

1 packet plain or smoked tofu (285g), drained and cut into strips 1x1x5cm
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 spring onions, cut into strips
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
6oz/150g mange tout or thin green beans
1 small tin water chestnuts, drained and sliced
10 oz/ 285g beansprouts

Sauce
¼pint/ 150ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp. dry sherry
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. tomato puree
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
salt and pepper
3½ tsp. cornflour
4 tsp. water


Method
1.   Mix all sauce ingredients (except cornflour and water) together in a bowl.
2.   Heat oil in a wok.  Add half the tofu and cook until golden brown.  Remove tofu from pan and drain on absorbent paper. Repeat with remaining tofu and put to one side.
3.   Add spring onions and carrots to wok, stir fry for 2 minutes.
4.   Add the mange tout and water chestnuts, stir fry for 2 minutes.
5.   Add the tofu and beansprouts, stir fry for 2 minutes.
6.   Add the water to the cornflour and mix well.  Pour the sauce into the wok, along with the water and cornflour mix, bring to a simmer and cook for 30 seconds.
7.   Serve with rice or egg noodles.

Serves 2 - 4

From Mrs's recipe collection
Hope this helps. 

[Hello, I am Bruce]

If I'm stir frying firm tofu, I always cut it into cuboids and sear them in clean oil first.  Then sit it aside to drain on paper and add to the sauce later.  Much nicer texture.

You can oven bake tofu.  Cut into big chunks, marinade in soy sauce, honey and ginger (or whatever) and stick it in at 180C.  Serve with rice and fried veg (or roast the veg since the oven is on anyway).

[MercuryKev]

My wife is fond of marinading cubes of tofu in miso and then roasting it.

I However prefer a nice steak ;-)

[Craig]

Dead easy and quick, make scrambled tofu. Just mash it up with a bit of turmeric and soy sauce, then heat in a bit of oil. Its also good with mushrooms (fried for a minute or so before heating the tofu) or spinach, or parsley / other herbs / spices etc.
Then serve on toast or baked potatoes, with ketchup.

Or tofu enchiladas. I've not got the exact recipe, but its something like cut the tofu into cubes, then coat with a mixture of flour / paprika / chilli powder. The fry up with whatever vegetables you want (onions, pepper, carrot etc) then put in tortillas.

[Jakob]

Kimchii Chige

http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=koreancooking&tab=weblogs&uid=328138549

Can be done without pork/tuna if needed and leftovers can easily be topped up the next day.

[FatBloke]

OK, so I've got the tofu... but, what to do with it now?   Culinary suggestions only, please!

Bin it and get a curry delivered!!   

[Regulator]

OK, so I've got the tofu... but, what to do with it now?   Culinary suggestions only, please!

Bin it and get a curry delivered!!   

I agree.  Tofu is revolting stuff. 

[Sergeant Pluck]

I agree. It's rubbish. Get some tempeh - far more flavour and texture and easier to use.

Chinese supermarkets often have it - in the freezer.

[Maladict]

I don't know how chinese restaurants prepare their tofu but I always ended up with lumps of rather uninspiring stuff.  Beancurd in black bean sauce is something I still order quite often, despite no longer being veggie.

Just don't eat too much of the stuff;

Frequent consumption of tofu was independently associated with increased rates of cognitive decline, "roughly of the magnitude as would be caused by a 4-year difference in age," reported Dr. Lon R. White of the Pactfic Health Research Institute, Honolulu, and his colleagues (J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 19[2]:242-55, 2000). No other single food showed such a pattern.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BJI/is_9_30/ai_63125234

The glutamate theory is interesting, excess glutamate is one of the features of motor neurone disease.

[hellymedic]

OK, so I've got the tofu... but, what to do with it now?   Culinary suggestions only, please!

Bin it and get a curry delivered!!   

I agree.  Tofu is revolting stuff. 

I'm another one who can do without white rubber which has negative flavour...

[pcolbeck]

Me too. I have never seen the point of the stuff.

[doop]

Try freezing firm tofu, then thawing it out again before cooking: it acquires a pleasing and slightly spongy texture which is great at soaking up the sauce in stir-fry dishes.

[FatBloke]

Try freezing firm tofu, then thawing it out again before cooking: it acquires a pleasing and slightly spongy texture which is great at soaking up the sauce in stir-fry dishes.

[Pete]

Bin it and get a curry delivered!!   

I agree.  Tofu is revolting stuff. 

I agree. It's rubbish.

I'm another one who can do without white rubber which has negative flavour...

Me too. I have never seen the point of the stuff.

This is fun, isn't it!  Predictable, but fun all the same!

Wasting my breath, I suppose, to assert that (as I recall) some chicken and turkey meats, etc., are as often as not utterly tasteless, were it not for their being laced with artificial flavourings.

I suppose it has to be said, there's good tofu and there's bad tofu, as with so many foodstuffs.

[Jakob]

Hmm..yes...Martin asks about recipes and he gets a handful of people proclaiming how much they dislike tofu.
Very helpful

[Maladict]

How about tofu green curry? 

[red marley]

If it's firm enough, try a very thin coating of marmite on strips of tofu then fry. Can be placed in in a stir fry or vegan paella.

I'd second the recommendation for Tempeh though. Very fulsome flavour and rich. Watch out for use-by dates though as it can turn quite nasty if left for too long (even after freezing).

[hubner]

Think of it as a filler, sort of like pasta or plain rice, and cook it or eat it with other more strongly concentrated and flavoured or seasoned ingredients.

[Jon P]

It's too rich for me - chickpeas and the occasional bit of fish instead

[HTFB]

Try freezing firm tofu, then thawing it out again before cooking: it acquires a pleasing and slightly spongy texture which is great at soaking up the sauce in stir-fry dishes.

<pred> IRTA "throwing it out", and agree. </pred>
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