Tofu

[Coriolis]

Does anyone here cook with tofu? I enjoy eating it, but my first attempts at cooking with it have been disappointing. I am not sure how to get it to take on the flavors of the other ingredients (i.e. not remain its relatively tasteless self), how to keep it from being soggy, or how to keep it from sticking to the pan. I don't have no-stick pans, and don't really want to have to get one just for this.

Any advice, tips, or favorite recipes welcome.

 

[Qlip]

I'm not a tofu expert, or even an amateur. I used to just make a bit and toss it into a quick dinner. I use extra firm, I cut it into larger cubes 1" or so and fry it in a pan. I put a couple table spoons of oil in the pan and flip the cubes to get them nice and brown on all sides. The texture is really nice, though flavor is still very much tofu.

What I *am* though is an expert in seasoning non-non-stick pans. I've been using this method for a couple of years with my scrambled eggs and it works amazingly well. I get a nice heavy pan, put a bit of high temp oil like avocado, peanut, sunflower, etc in it to coat the bottom and heat it up till the oil wants to not quite smoke. Then turn off the heat and let it cool and wipe out the oil. Then proceed to use your slick pan for whatever you like, with the oil you like. Good luck with the tofu!

 

[ceecee]

I have realized that this is mostly technique as well as knowing the types of tofu. Here is a pretty comprehensive guide.

A Guide to Tofu Types and What to Do With Them | Serious Eats

Pressing out the water or rinsing/draining is really key with many types. The other is that it doesn't really take on the flavor of other ingredients, unless it's that hyper-porous frozen tofu. The glazing method, included in the link above, totally works. I love dishes like Ma Po Tofu but I use a more firm, pressed tofu, not silken like the recipes call for. Experiment and I also like the Korean varieties of tofu better than anything else, personally. I don't use a non-stick skillet to do any of this, just a really seasoned carbon steel wok.

 

[rav3n]

Without a non-stick pan, you have to use a lot of oil to keep it from sticking. Or you don't sear it and use a recipe that has a lot of sauce which will double duty as a way to ensure that it takes on the flavor of everything else. You can also marinate it.

Bear in mind that there are assorted levels of firmness and selection will rely on how you wish to cook it.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

One of my favorite recipes: Asian Baked Tofu

I use a large glass cake pan - just big enough to fit cubed tofu in one layer, but small enough that tofu is at least 1/2 submerged in sauce (since the tofu needs to be flipped halfway through cook time, it all gets marinated). And I tend to let it sit in the sauce a while before putting it in the oven - 15 minutes or so.

Also, I double the amount of sauce and then I pour the extra (whatever hasn't evaporated in oven) over steamed broccoli and riced cauliflower. I also eat it with Trader Joe's cauliflower stir-fry sometimes (which also tastes good with the extra sauce poured over it).

I used to marinate cubed tofu in a Worcester/soy sauce combination overnight. That worked pretty well, for my tastes. Although it did feel wasteful to pour so much soy sauce down the drain just to marinate.

 

[Coriolis]

What I *am* though is an expert in seasoning non-non-stick pans. I've been using this method for a couple of years with my scrambled eggs and it works amazingly well. I get a nice heavy pan, put a bit of high temp oil like avocado, peanut, sunflower, etc in it to coat the bottom and heat it up till the oil wants to not quite smoke. Then turn off the heat and let it cool and wipe out the oil. Then proceed to use your slick pan for whatever you like, with the oil you like. Good luck with the tofu!

How often must this be done? Does washing remove the "seasoning"? Can this be done on all types of uncoated pans, or only cast iron?

Pressing out the water or rinsing/draining is really key with many types. The other is that it doesn't really take on the flavor of other ingredients, unless it's that hyper-porous frozen tofu. The glazing method, included in the link above, totally works. I love dishes like Ma Po Tofu but I use a more firm, pressed tofu, not silken like the recipes call for. Experiment and I also like the Korean varieties of tofu better than anything else, personally. I don't use a non-stick skillet to do any of this, just a really seasoned carbon steel wok.

So far, I have tried only extra firm tofu, and I did press the water out. So the texture wasn't too bad, but it did tend to stick quite a bit while cooking.

Thanks for the link - I will check it out.

Without a non-stick pan, you have to use a lot of oil to keep it from sticking. Or you don't sear it and use a recipe that has a lot of sauce which will double duty as a way to ensure that it takes on the flavor of everything else. You can also marinate it.

Bear in mind that there are assorted levels of firmness and selection will rely on how you wish to cook it.

I prefer it seared first and tried to do that, but ran into the aforementioned problem with sticking. I might just need to develop better technique. I think it would also help for me to cook the tofu first, then remove it and cook the other ingredients.

I use a large glass cake pan - just big enough to fit cubed tofu in one layer, but small enough that tofu is at least 1/2 submerged in sauce (since the tofu needs to be flipped halfway through cook time, it all gets marinated). And I tend to let it sit in the sauce a while before putting it in the oven - 15 minutes or so.

Also, I double the amount of sauce and then I pour the extra (whatever hasn't evaporated in oven) over steamed broccoli and riced cauliflower. I also eat it with Trader Joe's cauliflower stir-fry sometimes (which also tastes good with the extra sauce poured over it).

I used to marinate cubed tofu in a Worcester/soy sauce combination overnight. That worked pretty well, for my tastes. Although it did feel wasteful to pour so much soy sauce down the drain just to marinate.

I wondered how baking would work, since I have tried only stir frying so far. I marinated the tofu the last time, which seems at odds with the idea of pressing out the water. It tasted better than the other times, but not surprisingly was soggier. Does baking encourage it to dry out more during cooking?

 

[rav3n]

I prefer it seared first and tried to do that, but ran into the aforementioned problem with sticking. I might just need to develop better technique. I think it would also help for me to cook the tofu first, then remove it and cook the other ingredients.

The secret to making a stainless steel frying pan or wok relatively non-stick, is to heat the pan on high heat until it's hot, then add oil and wait until the oil's very lightly smoking before you add the food. But...you'll still need quite a bit of oil. And yes, you should be searing the tofu first, then removing it from the pan to fry other things, then add back later.

 

[Qlip]

How often must this be done? Does washing remove the "seasoning"? Can this be done on all types of uncoated pans, or only cast iron?

Yes, washing removes the seasoning, so you'd do it right before you cook. I usually start that while doing ingredient prep, it doesn't take long. And I use it on my stainless pans.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Seitan is better.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I wondered how baking would work, since I have tried only stir frying so far. I marinated the tofu the last time, which seems at odds with the idea of pressing out the water. It tasted better than the other times, but not surprisingly was soggier. Does baking encourage it to dry out more during cooking?

Yes. In fact I doubled the sauce originally to keep it from drying out as much. I like tofu crispy on the outside, I tend to cook it almost twice as long as the recipe calls for - and having it halfway submerged in sauce allows for the top to brown while the bottom cooks in the sauce (then once the top has browned, I flip them over for the other side to brown - the result is well seasoned and crispy on all sides).

I have used this same sauce recipe on the stove top - searing first, then simmering for a while in the sauce. I like the oven consistency more, but the stove top method is much faster.

I've been wanting to try air-frying tofu, but haven't gotten myself a fancy air-fryer yet.

 

[Coriolis]

Seitan is better.

I have heard about that, but never had it. What makes it better?

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I have heard about that, but never had it. What makes it better?

It has more flavor and actually tastes a little meaty.

 

[ceecee]

It has more flavor and actually tastes a little meaty.

I think Beyond Meat is part seiten, or wheat gluten and it's very good.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I think Beyond Meat is part seiten, or wheat gluten and it's very good.

Seitan is made from wheat gluten, I believe. Unless that's what you were getting at.

 

[ceecee]

Seitan is made from wheat gluten, I believe. Unless that's what you were getting at.

That's what I was getting it.

 

[rav3n]

People often consume tofu to avoid or take a break from both meat and wheat gluten.

 

[Tellenbach]

Adapted from "Adventures in Starry Kitchen":

Crispy Tofu Balls

The Totole mushroom bouillon and the green glutinous rice flakes might be hard to track down. I haven't made this but the book says this is one of the most popular dishes at the Starry Kitchen restaurant.

 

[Yuurei]

I don't like it ( it's a texture thing) cook it on occasion for others. I always remove it from the package, pat it dry to remove excess water and leave it covered in the fridge overnight.

 

[Hiraeth]

I prefer baking mine to avoid using oil and out of convenience. It's important to first drain the excess water out though so it doesn't come out soggy. Afterwards, I store it inside a food storage container with whatever ingredients I want to use for marination, place it inside the fridge for 20-30 minutes, and then bake at 400 F for around 40 minutes. After that, my favorite thing to do is to quickly coat the tofu in orange sauce on a fry pan set on low heat, and it always comes out very flavorful.

Seitan is better.

Hail Seitan.

 

[Coriolis]

Thanks to everyone who shared experiences, tips, and recipes. I made tofu a few days ago, and used Qlip's process described below. The only oil I had on hand was olive and canola, so I used the olive oil and it still worked amazingly well. I cooked my entire package of tofu, cut into short, narrow strips, and it got brown and crispy without ever sticking.

I'm not a tofu expert, or even an amateur. I used to just make a bit and toss it into a quick dinner. I use extra firm, I cut it into larger cubes 1" or so and fry it in a pan. I put a couple table spoons of oil in the pan and flip the cubes to get them nice and brown on all sides. The texture is really nice, though flavor is still very much tofu.

What I *am* though is an expert in seasoning non-non-stick pans. I've been using this method for a couple of years with my scrambled eggs and it works amazingly well. I get a nice heavy pan, put a bit of high temp oil like avocado, peanut, sunflower, etc in it to coat the bottom and heat it up till the oil wants to not quite smoke. Then turn off the heat and let it cool and wipe out the oil. Then proceed to use your slick pan for whatever you like, with the oil you like. Good luck with the tofu!

Next time, I will try one of the baking options. The only downside of all this is that it turns out my husband is not a fan of tofu. I think he was a bit sorry that it worked so well, as it means there will be more tofu in our future.