The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

On May 11, 5:10 am, Artistic Taste <Artistic.Taste.
> wrote:
> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.
>
Long before foodbanter was created I posted this to rec.food.cooking
in 1999. It's quite mild, but tasty.

Mushrooms and Tofu

Preparation.

Soak 10 med. size dried Chinese mushrooms (aka shiitake) in hot
water.
Cut tofu into cubes.
Mix 1/2 TB cornstarch with 1/4 Cup cold water and 1/4 tsp sesame
oil.
Clean and slice two scallions on the diagonal into 1" pieces.
Mix together 1 TB dry sherry, 1 TB soy sauce, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/4
tsp MSG (recommended, but omit if you're among the 5 percent or
so who are allergic).
When mushrooms are soft, squeeze excess moisture out of them, cut
out stems, slice into 4 pieces.

Cooking.

Heat a heavy pan or skillet, when hot add 1 to 2 TB peanut oil,
cook the mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add 1 Cup of the mushroom
soaking liquid (pour carefully to avoid the sediment in the
bottom), simmer for 2 more minutes. Add the tofu and the
seasoning mixture and the scallions, cover and simmer for 2 more
minutes. Uncover, turn the tofu over if necessary to color the
top side. Now add the cornstarch slurry, stirring all the
while, until sauce thickens to the degree you like. Serve with
plain rice.
-------------------

And in 2002 I posted this. It has pork and considerably more
spiciness if you get the right Chinese condiments.
Cooking for one tonight, don't want anything heavy, let's see what I
have....
Half a package of firm tofu, some ground pork in the freezer, that's
about
it plus the staples. Okay,

Soak 5 med. shiitakes in very hot water till soft, slice.
Get the rice started.
Chop a couple cloves of garlic, slice a couple of scallions.
Thaw 1/4 lb. ground pork in the microwave.
Melt about a cup's worth of frozen chicken stock cubes in the
microwave.
Slice the tofu into bite-sized pieces.
Get the wok hot, stir fry the mushrooms in hot oil flavored with a
slice
of ginger for about two minutes.
Add the pork and half the garlic. Stir fry until all the pink is
gone.
Add a heaping TB of brown bean sauce, stir well, add the chicken
broth,
about a TB of soy sauce, about 2 TB of rice wine, the rest of the
garlic,
about a tsp. of chili bean curd, stir well again, then add the tofu.
Turn
the heat down and let it all simmer until the rice is done. Add the
scallions about a minute before serving.

Very tasty, though I have no name for it.
----------------
In addition to these, google "ma po tofu" for a nice spicy Sichuan
classic dish. -aem

"Artistic Taste" > wrote in
message news:Artistic.Taste.62f1898.699445@foodbantersucks .com...
>
> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

Freeze it, thaw it, press out the water, marinate it in whatever you want,
then cook it however you like.

Subject

"Good" & "Tofu" are mutually exclusive terms.

Lew

Artistic Taste wrote:
>
>The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
>render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
>or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

http://hilojen.orangellous.com/spam_soup.php

brooklyn1 wrote:
> Artistic Taste wrote:
>> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
>> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
>> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.
>
> http://hilojen.orangellous.com/spam_soup.php

I thought the hot-pink and white things in that picture were radishes.
(I think thickly sliced red radishes would be better in that recipe
than surimi, but they would go in earlier with the other vegetables)

Bob

Stu wrote:
>
> Thai Seared Tofu

This recipe was stolen from Cooking Light magazine,
April 1997 issue.

The complete recipe can be seen he

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/re...pe_id=22 3722

On 5/11/2010 2:10 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.
>

Mapo Tofu or Mabo Tofu is a popular dish here. I like it cause it's
tasty and I can whip up a batch in less than 15 minutes. Serve it over
hot rice.

Brown 1/2 pound ground pork in pan

Add some Black Bean Garlic Sauce - about 1 T.

Add some Chili Garlic Sauce - about 1 T. You can use a little red chili
paste instead.

Salt and pepper.

1 can chicken stock - use more if you like.

Heat through and thicken with cornstarch slurry

Add 1 - 14 oz container Tofu cut into cubes. You can use firm, I use
soft. I cut the cubes into small pieces some people will cut it into
large cubes. Some people will put the soft tofu in the pan and break it
into irregular pieces.

Heat through, garnish with green onion or scallions and serve. This dish
can range from spicy to flaming hot. Use more chili sauce/paste or
Sriracha sauce to your heat level.

Thank you to everyone so far. Much better ideas than I expected. Can't wait to try them all.

"Artistic Taste" wrote

> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.

cshenk > wrote:

>There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
>the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
>plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
>How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.

This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.

Steve

On Wed, 12 May 2010 06:21:54 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

>cshenk > wrote:
>
>>There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
>>the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
>>plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
>>How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.
>
>This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
>pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.
>
>Steve

I press mine. I learned this from a variety of sources...including
Deborah Madison.

Christine

Christine Dabney > wrote:

>On Wed, 12 May 2010 06:21:54 +0000 (UTC),

>>This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
>>pressed, frozen, or otherwise rendered the water out of it.

>I press mine. I learned this from a variety of sources...including
>Deborah Madison.

I was vaguely aware that some people do this; it's just not
something I've run across and I don't subjectively feel
that tofu needs less moisture, in the ways I use it.

Tangentially, Mollie Katzen recommends _The Book of Tofu_ by
Shurtleff and Aoyagi.


Steve

In no particular order:

(1) Add diced tofu to any sort of egg dish (scrambled eggs,
omelet, frittata, quiche)

(2) Tofu sandwich. I usually fry a slice of tofu in a
cast-iron pan, applying some soy sauce and black and red pepper,
and use this in a sandwich.

(3) Tofu and salad greens in a sesame/soy sauce/rice vinegar dressing.

(4) Tofu as a minor ingredient in potato salad.

(5) Tofu pizzaiola -- a pan-fried slab of tofu covered with
tomato sauce, and possibly mushrooms.



Steve

Steve Pope wrote:
>
> cshenk > wrote:
>
> >There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
> >the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
> >plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
> >How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.
>
> This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
> pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.
>
> Steve

Depends on how it is meant to be used. When we put tofu in soup, no need
to press. But for stir- or deep-frying, less water is better.

"Steve Pope" wrote
> cshenk wrote:

>>There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to
>>render
>>the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
>>plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
>>How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.
>
> This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
> pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.

Depends on what texture you want from it. Soups/stews, don't bother. Fried
though, it's often needed.

Artistic Taste wrote:
> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

We eat a LOT of tofu around here. The way my family likes it best is
either cut into tiny cubes and deep-fried*, or pan-fried and then tossed
with some kind of sauce. Frequently, I use Thai sweet chili sauce, add
some veggies, and serve over rice.

There's a really great food blog that has recipes that have never
steered me wrong. The tofu ones are at
http://www.google.com/search?q=tofu+...tfreevegan.com

Serene


* Once it's deep-fried, it can be eaten as a crunchy topping to any
dish, or we sometimes eat it just salted and peppered. There's a Chinese
restaurant near me that does "salty peppery tofu", and that also has
slivers of jalapeno and scallion added. Addictive!

--
"I tend to come down on the side of autonomy. Once people are grown up,
I believe they have the right to go to hell in the handbasket of their
choosing." -- Pat Kight, on alt.polyamory

I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I appreciate them greatly.

In article >, Artistic Taste > wrote:
>
>The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
>render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
>or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

Oh... Sorry I intruded. The subject said "Any good recipes using
tofu?" ;-)

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

Arri London > wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:

>> This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
>> pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.

>Depends on how it is meant to be used. When we put tofu in soup, no need
>to press. But for stir- or deep-frying, less water is better.

Thanks. I get acceptable results stir-frying tofu without re-pressing
it (obviously, whoever manufactures the tofu has pressed some water
out of it already), but maybe I'll try pressing it sometime to see if
there's any difference.

Steve

On 5/13/2010 3:51 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:

> I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
> Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting
> has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I
> appreciate them greatly.

One of the most remarkable dishes that I make is to cube soft tofu, add
soy sauce, and sprinkle bonito flakes on top. It's a sublime flavor
explosion! This only works if you do it rarely. Otherwise, it's a pretty
ordinary dish. :-)

On 5/13/2010 4:46 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> On 5/13/2010 3:51 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
>
>> I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
>> Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting
>> has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I
>> appreciate them greatly.
>
> One of the most remarkable dishes that I make is to cube soft tofu, add
> soy sauce, and sprinkle bonito flakes on top. It's a sublime flavor
> explosion! This only works if you do it rarely. Otherwise, it's a pretty
> ordinary dish. :-)

If you want to take it up a notch add some thinly sliced scallions, a
few drops of sesame oil and a light dusting of ground red pepper in
addition to the shoyu and katsuobushi.

On 5/13/2010 11:06 AM, George wrote:
> On 5/13/2010 4:46 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 5/13/2010 3:51 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
>>
>>> I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
>>> Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting
>>> has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I
>>> appreciate them greatly.
>>
>> One of the most remarkable dishes that I make is to cube soft tofu, add
>> soy sauce, and sprinkle bonito flakes on top. It's a sublime flavor
>> explosion! This only works if you do it rarely. Otherwise, it's a pretty
>> ordinary dish. :-)
>
> If you want to take it up a notch add some thinly sliced scallions, a
> few drops of sesame oil and a light dusting of ground red pepper in
> addition to the shoyu and katsuobushi.

Sounds great! Katsuobushi would be the shaved bonito. It's quite
remarkable stuff isn't it? How they turn fish flesh into a glassy
material that shaves like wood is amazing and mysterious.

dsi1 wrote:
>
> On 5/13/2010 11:06 AM, George wrote:
> > On 5/13/2010 4:46 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> >> On 5/13/2010 3:51 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
> >>
> >>> I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
> >>> Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting
> >>> has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I
> >>> appreciate them greatly.
> >>
> >> One of the most remarkable dishes that I make is to cube soft tofu, add
> >> soy sauce, and sprinkle bonito flakes on top. It's a sublime flavor
> >> explosion! This only works if you do it rarely. Otherwise, it's a pretty
> >> ordinary dish. :-)
> >
> > If you want to take it up a notch add some thinly sliced scallions, a
> > few drops of sesame oil and a light dusting of ground red pepper in
> > addition to the shoyu and katsuobushi.
>
> Sounds great! Katsuobushi would be the shaved bonito. It's quite
> remarkable stuff isn't it? How they turn fish flesh into a glassy
> material that shaves like wood is amazing and mysterious.

Salted, fermented and dried.

Sorry I didn't buy a kezuriki (used to shave the block of fish) when I
had the chance.

On 5/13/2010 1:17 PM, Arri London wrote:
>
>
> dsi1 wrote:
>>
>> On 5/13/2010 11:06 AM, George wrote:
>>> On 5/13/2010 4:46 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>>>> On 5/13/2010 3:51 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
>>>>> Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting
>>>>> has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I
>>>>> appreciate them greatly.
>>>>
>>>> One of the most remarkable dishes that I make is to cube soft tofu, add
>>>> soy sauce, and sprinkle bonito flakes on top. It's a sublime flavor
>>>> explosion! This only works if you do it rarely. Otherwise, it's a pretty
>>>> ordinary dish. :-)
>>>
>>> If you want to take it up a notch add some thinly sliced scallions, a
>>> few drops of sesame oil and a light dusting of ground red pepper in
>>> addition to the shoyu and katsuobushi.
>>
>> Sounds great! Katsuobushi would be the shaved bonito. It's quite
>> remarkable stuff isn't it? How they turn fish flesh into a glassy
>> material that shaves like wood is amazing and mysterious.
>
> Salted, fermented and dried.
>
> Sorry I didn't buy a kezuriki (used to shave the block of fish) when I
> had the chance.

I have seen those plane thingies in eBay. Too bad it looks like you
can't get the whole katsuobushi in the states. There might be a business
opportunity here. :-)

Art wrote:

> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

There have already been some great suggestions; here are some others:

Substitute tofu for the paneer in mattar paneer.

Cut tofu into one-inch cubes, coat with rice flour, and deep-fry. Serve with
any number of dipping sauces.

Google for "Sunny Eggless Salad" recipe from _The New West Coast Cuisine_.

Blend with spinach (steamed and squeezed), salt, and a tiny bit of nutmeg
for a ravioli filling.

Pan-cook butternut squash, tofu, and sage in butter.

Bob

In article >,
Artistic Taste > wrote:

> The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
> render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
> or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

It's worked best for me in soups.
Hot and sour and egg flower soup.
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
*Only Irish *coffee provides in a single glass all four *essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar *and fat. --Alex Levine

dsi1 wrote:
>
> On 5/13/2010 1:17 PM, Arri London wrote:
> >
> >
> > dsi1 wrote:
> >>
> >> On 5/13/2010 11:06 AM, George wrote:
> >>> On 5/13/2010 4:46 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> >>>> On 5/13/2010 3:51 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> I think I edited this correctly(I hope).
> >>>>> Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Making tofu interesting
> >>>>> has been a task, but these are all wonderful suggestions and I
> >>>>> appreciate them greatly.
> >>>>
> >>>> One of the most remarkable dishes that I make is to cube soft tofu, add
> >>>> soy sauce, and sprinkle bonito flakes on top. It's a sublime flavor
> >>>> explosion! This only works if you do it rarely. Otherwise, it's a pretty
> >>>> ordinary dish. :-)
> >>>
> >>> If you want to take it up a notch add some thinly sliced scallions, a
> >>> few drops of sesame oil and a light dusting of ground red pepper in
> >>> addition to the shoyu and katsuobushi.
> >>
> >> Sounds great! Katsuobushi would be the shaved bonito. It's quite
> >> remarkable stuff isn't it? How they turn fish flesh into a glassy
> >> material that shaves like wood is amazing and mysterious.
> >
> > Salted, fermented and dried.
> >
> > Sorry I didn't buy a kezuriki (used to shave the block of fish) when I
> > had the chance.
>
> I have seen those plane thingies in eBay. Too bad it looks like you
> can't get the whole katsuobushi in the states. There might be a business
> opportunity here. :-)

It must be a lot of work! Anyway, the place that sold the kezuriki also
sold the block of fish. It wasn't in the US. When I decided to go back
and get the plane (for that's what it is) and the fish, shop wasn't
stocking either any more