TOFU 101
You can thank the asswipe who flagged this article on facebook for me having to link you to this externally. Enjoy.
Attention tofu newbs:
I have recently found myself explaining to a number of people about how to choose, drain, season and cook tofu, and have decided to give you all a bit of a crash course here before you end up sitting in front of the classic tofu newb dish I fondly refer to as: 'Slopinawok'.
So you've decided you're going to try to cook something with tofu; the most basic thing you're probably going to want to do is cut some up and bung it in a stir fry with a wing and a prayer, [and a dash of soya sauce], and see how you go. That's all well and good, except there are just a few things you ought to know first...
Types of tofu:
The two most common types of tofu are Silken tofu, and Firm tofu [sometimes called bean curd.] Now, if you're in the shops, and you find yourself gazing at a tub in your hand thatjust says 'tofu' and you can't for the life of you find either the words silken or firm, you can presume that it's firm tofu.
~ Firm tofu can be of varying amounts of firmness depending on brand etc, but is best suited to being cut in to cubes or slices and fried or baked.
Firm tofu packed in a tub of water [as it usually is.]
~Silken tofu has a consistency that's almost like greek style yogurt, and is more suited to being used as a base for drinks dips or sauces!
Silken tofu
Preparation:
Ok, so you passed the supermarket stress test [hawh hawh...] and you got the stuff home. You open up your tub of firm tofu [you were making a stir fry, remember?] and you realise it's half floating in what looks like a container of murky dish water. Mmmm, yummy.... >_> Yeah, you're gonna wanna drain that mo'fucker.
Do it over the sink to get rid of the excess first, and yeah, I know it says 'firm' tofu, but do take care, because the stuff can sorta break up if you tip it over. Basically, it ain't that firm... Now for the really clever bit! Grab yourself a dinner plate, a BIG book, and a chopping board, and make a plate-tofu-board sandwich with the book on top to give it a bit of a squish. Over the space of about 20 minutes, you're gonna see a heck of alot more water comin' outta that bad boy, and you'll want to periodically pick the whole thing up [well, take the book off first, it's a stir fry, not a circus act...] and drain the water caught in the plate.
The longer you keep doing that, the better, because your tofu is now going to act like a flavour soaking sponge. When you're happy that most of the water has been drained, grab a sharp knife and cut the block in to medium sized cubes or chunks. Try not to cut them smaller than about a square inch the first time you do it, because they can get a bit crumbly if they're too small.
Seasoning:
Ultimately, it's up to you how you want to season your tofu. In Japan, there are tofu dishes available where the block was never drained as described above, and was just cut up and fried in soya sauce, but alot of western people can't stand it cooked this way because it can be quite sloppy and almost goo-ey or slimy in texture.
Personally, I like to have a spice paste or sauce handy that's either store bought, or homemade, and I basically marinade the tofu in a bowl, making sure to get as much coverage as possible, then I fry it. You can do it seperately in a small pan, and keep the flavour to the tofu, adding it to veg and/or rice as a topping rather than mixing it all together.
There are a ton of dishes online that call for tofu, some will show you how to make dips and sauces from silken tofu, which is really quite simple, and some will take you through other ways of flavouring and cooking firm tofu.
And it doesn't stop there! You may even get ideas from non asian recipes and fire up a little fusion in the kitchen, or you could even substitute tofu in some of your favorite meaty dishes! There are also pre seasoned and cooked tofu on the market and a huge variety of flavours are available!
So the bottom line is; if you DO find yourself staring at a steaming bowl of classic tofu newb slopinawok, don't despair. It's a fab ingredient, is high in protein, low in fat and calories, and is infinitely versitile!
Good luck in your soy bean adventures!
